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Belser v. O'Cleireachain3/17/2005
inherent power to control its docket, which is the power to "supervise and control the movement of all cases on its docket from the time of filing through final disposition") (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The authority to stay proceedings is incidental to the court's inherent management authority. See Landis v. N. Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254 (1936) (stating that "the power to stay proceedings is incidental to the power inherent in every court to control the disposition of the causes on its docket with economy of time and effort"). It does not matter that the stay was initiated by a stipulation. Unless otherwise indicated in the Rules of Civil Procedure, the court, not the parties, controls the movement of cases on its docket within its discretion. See generally Ahasteen, 1998-NMCA-158, 28 (noting the inherent authority of the district court to control its docket).
{4} The district court did not abuse its discretion by lifting the stay in this case. As interpreted by Plaintiff, the stipulated order stayed the district court proceedings indefinitely until she pursued, and the MRC acted upon, her application with the MRC. Indeed, according to Plaintiff, she did not even have an obligation under the stay to file an application with the MRC. This reading of the stipulated order removes from the district court all control of the proceedings before it. The district court could reasonably have construed its own order to avoid such loss of control of its proceedings and to require Plaintiff to have filed an application with the MRC within a reasonable time. The district court acted within its discretionary inherent authority in the control of its cases to require Plaintiff to act within a reasonable period of time to pursue her claim, after Plaintiff had failed to do so.
{5} Plaintiff's reliance on Ottino v. Ottino, 2001-NMCA-012, 130 N.M. 168, 21 P.3d 37, is misplaced. In Ottino, we concluded that the district court may enforce, as a matter of contract, a post-minority child support agreement entered into by divorcing parties, even though the court did not have the authority to order such support as part of its statutory jurisdiction over divorce matters. Id. 14-16. We recognized that the court's ability to enforce a contract is independent from its ability to order child support, so that the court could give recognition to the parties' agreement that exceeded the court's independent authority. Id. In this case, however, Plaintiff argues that the district court did not have any authority except to recognize the parties' agreement, as interpreted by Plaintiff. Yet, as we have discussed, the district court had full and independent authority to act on its own with regard to a stay, and the parties invoked this authority by requesting a court order.
District Court's Authority to Dismiss
{6} Plaintiff additionally argues, relying on Rupp, that the district court did not have the authority to dismiss her complaint. The Medical Malpractice Act provides that a medical malpractice action against a health care provider qualifying under the Act may not be filed in court "before application is made to the medical review commission and its decision is rendered." NMSA 1978, ยง 41-5-15(A) (1976). The plaintiff in Rupp had filed her district court complaint and MRC application two days before the expiration of the statute of limitations under Section 41-5-13. Rupp, 2002-NMCA-023, 4-5. Following the Supreme Court's opinions in Otero v. Zouhar, 102 N.M. 482, 484, 697 P.2d 482, 484 (1985), overruled in part on other grounds by Grantland v. Lea Regional Hospital, 110 N.M. 378, 380, 796 P.2d 599, 601 (1990), and Jiron v. Mahlab, 99 N.M. 425, 426, 659 P.2d 311, 312 (1983), thi
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