In Greer v. Moon, District. Court, D. Utah 2025, the court denied a defense request for Rule 37 sanctions because the pro se litigant amended his disclosures in response to the court’s prior orders. The plaintiff’s Rule 26 disclosures were deficient.

The court explains: As to the first Woodworker’s factor, although Mr. Greer’s failure to properly disclose witnesses or evidence to Defendants is not harmless and has resulted in needless litigation and expenses, Defendants have not suffered the prejudice or surprise that Rule 37(c) exclusion contemplates, such as the introduction of new witnesses after the close of discovery, after expert reports and depositions are completed, and after dispositive motions have been filed.^[11] Instead, the court is able to rectify Defendants’ needless expenditures for needless litigation by ordering Mr. Greer to pay those expenses. If Mr. Greer later attempts to introduce information or witnesses he failed to produce in initial disclosures, the court may address Rule 37(c) exclusion at that time. Presently, incurring expenses does not hinder Defendants from presenting their defense and, as discussed below, is curable by methods other than exclusion.

However, the court denied “case-ending” sanctions.

The court also declines to impose the “case-ending” sanctions Defendants request for Mr. Greer’s failure under Rule 26. The court warned Mr. Greer that if he failed to comply with the court’s order compelling production of the Rule 26(a) information, he may be subject to potential case-ending sanctions under Rule 37(b)(2).^[16]Dismissing this case when costs and fees would rectify prejudice to Defendants would violate the clear preference to adjudicate cases on their merits.^[17] That is especially true where, as here, Mr. Greer is proceeding pro se. Albeit imperfect, Mr. Greer has attempted to comply with the court’s order to provide initial disclosures to Defendants, which renders Rule 37(b)(2) sanctions unnecessary at this juncture.

Comment: pro se litigants are governed by the same rules everyone else is, but they have a more difficult time complying with those rules.