Opinion ID: 2543612
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Clear Record of Delay

Text: ¶ 19. The Court of Appeals correctly found a clear record of delay in today's case. Holder, 54 So.3d at 250, ¶ 28. The Court of Appeals made the following findings with regard to delay: the Holders did not submit their answers to interrogatories until 435 days past the deadline set by Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 33(b)(3); [4] the Holders did not begin their own discovery until almost a year past the deadline set by Uniform Rule of Circuit and County Court Practice 4.04(A); [5] and the Holders failed to reply to the defendants' motion to dismiss within the ten-day time limit in Rule 4.03(2) of the Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court Practice. [6] Holder, 54 So.3d at 248-49, ¶¶ 17-20. Based on these findings, the Court of Appeals held that: the record substantially supports the trial court's finding of dilatory conduct on the part of the plaintiffs. Whether the plaintiffs' failure to timely engage in discovery, as claimed by the plaintiffs' counsel, was unintentional is of no moment to this Court, for the facts here clearly evince inexcusable delay. While there may be instances where delay, under the circumstances, may be excusable, we can say unequivocally that the asserted reason for the delay as stated by counsel for the plaintiffs, which he attributed to staffing difficulties at his law office and his having other trials to contend with, warrants no such consideration. In the case at bar, counsel's mistaken belief that someone from his law office had timely answered the defendants' propounded discovery and filed the plaintiffs' own discovery requests, constitutesat the very least delay by negligent omission. Holder, 54 So.3d at 249, ¶ 21. ¶ 20. A showing of delay or contumacious conduct is sufficient for a Rule 41(b) dismissal when a lesser sanction would not serve the best interests of justice. Am. Tel. & Tel., 720 So.2d at 181 (citing Rogers v. Kroger Co., 669 F.2d 317, 320 (5th Cir.1982)). Delay alone may suffice for a dismissal under Rule 41(b). Cox, 976 So.2d at 875 (emphasis added). Factors other than delay are not required. The standard is whether there is `a clear record of delay or contumacious conduct by the plaintiff. . . .' Id. (citing Am. Tel. & Tel., 720 So.2d at 181 (emphasis added)). ¶ 21. We previously have held that repeated failures to comply with discovery requests warrant dismissal with prejudice. Beck v. Sapet, 937 So.2d 945, 950 (Miss. 2006) (finding a pattern of consistent follow-up regarding pending requests); see also Hillman v. Weatherly, 14 So.3d 721, 723 (Miss.2009) (defendant had sent plaintiff a good-faith letter requesting answers to discovery three months after propounding first set of interrogatories). In the present case, counsel for the defendants sent his first set of interrogatories to plaintiffs' counsel on February 12, 2007. Plaintiffs' counsel responded to the requests by correspondence stating that he would not be able to complete discovery because he was in trial on another matter. Defendants' counsel followed up three times with plaintiffs' counsel, inquiring when the discovery requests would be completed. [7] All of these inquiries were ignored by plaintiffs' counsel. ¶ 22. We also may consider whether the plaintiffs' activity was reactionary to the defendants' motion to dismiss, or whether the activity was an effort to proceed in the litigation. Hillman, 14 So.3d at 727 (citing Hill v. Ramsey, 3 So.3d 120, 122 (Miss. 2009)). Plaintiffs' counsel first attempted discovery in this case when it sent a letter to counsel for the defendants requesting to take the deposition of Dr. Benefield on May 5, 2008. While this attempt was made prior to the defendants' filing their motion to dismiss, we cannot ignore that counsel for the plaintiffs did not respond to the defendants' interrogatories and their three subsequent followup inquires until thirteen days after the defendants had filed their motion to dismiss and 435 days past the deadline set by our Rules of Civil Procedure. See Miss. R. Civ. P. 33(b)(3). ¶ 23. This Court also has recognized that a defendant's own dilatory conduct may be considered when dismissing an action. Salts v. Gulf Nat'l Life Ins. Co., 872 So.2d 667, 670 (Miss.2004) (citing Palmer v. Biloxi Reg'l Med. Ctr., Inc., 564 So.2d 1346, 1370 (Miss.1990)). In today's case, there has been no showing of dilatory conduct by the defendants. The defendants timely filed their answer and defenses to the plaintiffs' complaint. ¶ 24. We also note that plaintiffs' counsel failed to move for a continuance to allow for additional time to complete the defendants' discovery requests. In Mississippi Department of Human Services v. Helton, 741 So.2d 240, 243 (Miss.1999), plaintiff's counsel had requested a number of continuances, which defendant's counsel claimed had caused a delay in the case warranting a Rule 41(b) dismissal. This Court found that [t]here is nothing contemptuous or contumacious about requesting continuances. Id. In the present case, plaintiffs' counsel made no attempt to move for a continuance to allow for more time to answer the defendants' discovery requests. Rather, he ignored the defendants' repeated requests to answer interrogatories and allowed the case to languish on the docket without any activity for more than a year. ¶ 25. This case shows a clear record of delay based on the showing of inexcusable delay. When there is a clear record of delay, no showing of contumacious conduct is necessary. Hine v. Anchor Lake Prop. Owners Ass'n, 911 So.2d 1001, 1005 (Miss.Ct.App.2005). The plaintiffs delayed in answering the defendants' interrogatories for 435 days. The plaintiffs also did not serve discovery requests upon the defendants within the time limit set by Uniform Rule of Civil and County Court Practice 4.04(A), and the plaintiffs were late in responding to the defendants' motion to dismiss. Thus, the Court of Appeals was correct in holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that a clear record of delay existed in the present case.