Opinion ID: 2575425
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Dr. Rotschafer

Text: After the pretrial order deadlines for disclosing the names of expert witnesses had passed and after St. Alphonsus disclosed its expert witnesses and their preliminary opinions, the Edmunds sought to allow Dr. Rotschafer as an expert witness. St. Alphonsus opposed the Edmunds' motion to supplement and requested sanctions pursuant to I.R.C.P. 16(i) and 37(b)(2)(B). The district court determined that Dr. Rotschafer would not be allowed to testify, even as a rebuttal witness. Here, the district court did not abuse its discretion by excluding Dr. Rotschafer's testimony. The trial court recognized its discretion, used reason, and acted within the boundaries of applicable legal principles. First, the hearing transcript makes clear that the district court understood it had discretion in ruling on this motion. The lower court reasoned that the Edmunds had failed to demonstrate an acceptable reason to extend the discovery deadlines previously imposed by the court and concluded that in order for the parties to be ready for mediation and trial Dr. Rotschafer's testimony should not be allowed. We affirm the district court's decision excluding Dr. Rotschafer's testimony. Though we affirm the district court's order regarding Dr. Rotschafer's testimony, we believe it appropriate to comment on the practice of issuing discovery orders that fail to allow plaintiffs to add witnesses in response to defendants' witness disclosures. The purpose of our discovery rules is to facilitate fair and expedient pretrial fact gathering. It follows, therefore, that discovery rules are not intended to encourage or reward those whose conduct is inconsistent with that purpose. Discovery orders of the kind in this case, however, give defendants every incentive to withhold information until after the plaintiff's disclosure deadline has passed. Our Court of Appeals rightly observed that these orders reward the defendant for stonewalling. Priest v. Landon, 135 Idaho 898, 901, 26 P.3d 1235, 1238 (Ct. App.2001). We are of course mindful that the Rules of Civil Procedure equip both sides with tools to ensure fair pretrial procedure, see I.R.C.P. 16, 26, and we have little sympathy for attorneys who do not utilize these tools to the extent reasonable. But we do not look favorably upon discretionary decisions by district judges that encourage last-minute witness disclosure and unreasonably prevent plaintiffs from responding, particularly in complex medical malpractice cases where experts will be furnishing the jury with the bulk of the necessary, and often technical, facts.