Is issue and or evidentiary sanctions for abuse of discovery available?

Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.030 generally sets forth available sanctions for discovery abuse, including issue and or evidentiary sanctions. Although issue and or evidentiary sanctions ordinarily will not be imposed until after an offending party has disobeyed a prior discovery order, a court may impose such sanctions in the first instance where the circumstances warrant them. For example, in Williams v. Russ (2008) 167 Cal.App.4th 1215, our court affirmed an order dismissing a legal malpractice case as a discovery sanction where the plaintiff's conduct caused the destruction of discoverable evidence which by reasonable inference potentially would have been favorable to the defendant lawyer. (Id. at pp. 1222-1227.)

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