Court Error – Abuse of Discretion

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Kenneth E. Nelson v. Bruce R. Schultz, etc.

Case No.: 17-2092

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and MANION and KANNE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Court Error – Abuse of Discretion

Kenneth Nelson sued two former business partners, Bruce Schultz and Jon Rodgers, for breach of con‐ tract and several torts. During discovery Schultz and Rodgers asked Nelson to produce various bank statements and tax re‐ turns, which, the defendants said, they needed to defend against his claims. After Nelson refused, the district court granted the defendants’ motion to compel their production and warned him, twice, that it would dismiss the case if he did not produce the documents or provide an affidavit documenting a diligent search for them. Nelson did neither, and the judge dismissed the case for want of prosecution. On appeal Nelson argues that the district judge erred by not assessing whether his misconduct justified dismissing the case. Because the judge sufficiently evaluated this matter and did not abuse his discretion by dismissing the suit after multiple warnings, we affirm.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.