Russ

Plaintiff Doug Williams appeals from the judgment entered after his legal malpractice complaint against Larry Russ and Russ’s law firm was dismissed as a discovery sanction because Williams allowed the destruction of most of his client files after obtaining them from Russ. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Doug Williams was the administrator and trustee of an employee benefits and retirement plan known as EPA. Williams and EPA initiated what evolved into a series of lawsuits and cross-complaints in federal court (the EPA actions) that were eventually settled but which led to Williams’s removal as the head of EPA in 1997. In 1998, Williams sued his former lawyer, Bruce Ashton, for legal malpractice, contending that Ashton’s poor advice led to his removal as EPA’s trustee. Ashton was later granted summary judgment because the statute of limitations had run on Williams’s causes of action. In May 2000, Williams sued Larry Russ and the law firm of Russ, August & Rabat for legal malpractice based solely on their representation of Williams in connection with the EPA and Ashton malpractice actions.

In February 2001, Williams demanded that Russ turn over the entire…