For failure of the plaintiff to prosecute or to comply with these rules or any order of court, a defendant may move for dismissal of an action or of any claim against the defendant.

Neither of these two desk men had ever heard a shot fired in anger, so I didn't take easily to their dismissal of an action of the sort that, on the rare cases when it's happened to other more senior men, has been marked by flowery commendations and promotions.

But in an opinion issued last week, Judge Green quoted - and underlined - a passage from a 1985 Federal appeals court opinion that stated: "Dismissal of an action with prejudice is a complete adjudication of the issues presented by the pleadings and is a bar to further action between the parties."