Plaintiff sought an accounting and damages from Defendant on various theories. The docket sheet reveals more than a twenty-seven month discovery battle of nearly indescribable dimensions between the litigants. The record does not show evidence was adduced on the sanction motion. This appeal by Plaintiff followed. After Plaintiff filed its brief with this court, the parties filed a joint motion and stipulation requesting we consider the case upon the record proper without the submission of a respondent's brief, and further urged we enter our mandate reversing and vacating the trial court's judgment and order.
Trial courts have the task of ensuring discovery rules are followed and litigation is expedited.
Moreover, trial courts are vested with broad discretion in the imposition of Rule 61 sanctions and exercise of that discretion will not be disturbed on review unless it is unjust. However, a trial court's discretion as to the imposition of sanctions for failure to comply with discovery procedures is not unfettered. Each case, of necessity, must be determined on its own peculiar facts in deciding whether the trial court has abused its discretion in imposing the particular sanctions. State ex rel. Case law teaches there are two prerequisites for the imposition of sanctions for failure to make discovery.