Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Sanctions
(Court opinion corrected 4/22/11.) Court dismissed father's petition for temporary and permanent custody of his 14-year-old son. Court abused its discretion by imposing the harshest sanction available after insufficient enforcement efforts: barring all of father's witnesses from testifying, as sanction for father's counsel not disclosing witnesses until five days prior to trial, and then dismissing petition with prejudice. Postdissolution proceedings are generally new actions. Interests of justice are not served if one party can defeat appellate jurisdiction on custody issues by filing separate, completely unrelated petition. Petition for modification of custody was independent and separate from petitions for rule to show cause and for continued maintenance, and they are thus separate actions and not related claims. (CARTER, concurring; McDADE, concurring in part and dissenting in part.)