Opinion
No. 83-147.
September 20, 1983.
Appeal from the Circuit Court, Dade County, William A. Herin, J.
Richard A. Barnett, Hollywood, for appellant.
Robert A. Ginsburg, County Atty., and Ralph C. Rocheteau, III, Asst. County Atty., for appellees.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BASKIN and FERGUSON, JJ.
Dismissal of plaintiff's action for failure of his attorney to appear for a call of the calendar is too severe a sanction to visit upon a litigant. For derelictions of this nature, a court is empowered to discipline the offending attorney by contempt or other appropriate punishment. See Catogas v. Sapp, 397 So.2d 1182 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); Aller v. Editorial Planeta, S.A., 389 So.2d 321 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980).
Reversed.