Tyler v. USAA-CIC

CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 16, 2013
Docket32,720
StatusUnpublished

This text of Tyler v. USAA-CIC (Tyler v. USAA-CIC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tyler v. USAA-CIC, (N.M. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

This memorandum opinion was not selected for publication in the New Mexico Appellate Reports. Please see Rule 12-405 NMRA for restrictions on the citation of unpublished memorandum opinions. Please also note that this electronic memorandum opinion may contain computer-generated errors or other deviations from the official paper version filed by the Court of Appeals and does not include the filing date.

1 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

2 FRANK TYLER

3 Plaintiff-Appellant,

4 v. NO. 32,720

5 USAA-CIC,

6 Defendant-Appellee

7 and

8 ARMANDO VILLEGAS,

9 Defendant.

10 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF BERNALILLO COUNTY 11 Clay Campbell, District Judge

12 Frank Tyler 13 Albuquerque, NM

14 Pro se Appellant

15 Civerolo, Gralow, Hill & Curtis 16 William Gralow 17 Megan D. Hill 18 Albuquerque, NM 1 for Appellee

2 MEMORANDUM OPINION

3 WECHSLER, Judge.

4 {1} Frank Tyler (Plaintiff) appeals from the district court’s order dismissing

5 Defendant USAA-CIC with prejudice. [RP 350, 447, 478] This case arises out of an

6 automobile accident that occurred on April 15, 2008. [RP 5] The proceedings were

7 bifurcated between Plaintiff’s tort claims against Defendant Armando Villegas and

8 Plaintiff’s breach of contract claims against Defendant USAA-CIC. [RP 184] The

9 subject of this appeal is the propriety of the district court’s order dismissing all of

10 Plaintiff’s breach of contract claims against Defendant USAA-CIC with prejudice.

11 [RP 350]

12 {2} Plaintiff raises numerous issues on appeal. [Informal DS] We consolidate

13 Plaintiff’s issues as: whether the district court erred, on procedural or substantive

14 grounds, in granting Defendant USAA-CIC’s motions for summary judgment on

15 claims for lost wages and medical expenses, and therefore erred in dismissing

16 Defendant USAA-CIC with prejudice from the case. The calendar notice proposed

17 summary affirmance. [Ct. App. File, CN1] Plaintiff has filed a memorandum in 1 opposition that we have duly considered. [Ct. App. File, MIO] Unpersuaded,

2 however, we affirm.

3 FINALITY

4 {3} Plaintiff expresses concerns in the docketing statement that the order dismissing

5 Defendant USAA-CIC with prejudice is not final, was entered prematurely, and was

6 inappropriately entered without adequate notice and a hearing and in the face of

7 several procedural errors. We disagree.

8 {4} “Whether an order is a ‘final order’ within the meaning of the statute is a

9 jurisdictional question that an appellate court is required to raise on its own motion.”

10 Khalsa v. Levinson, 1998-NMCA-110, ¶ 12, 125 N.M. 680, 964 P.2d 844. Generally,

11 an order or judgment is not considered final unless all issues of law and fact have been

12 determined and the case disposed of by the trial court to the fullest extent possible.

13 Kelly Inn No. 102, Inc. v. Kapnison, 1992-NMSC-005, ¶ 14, 113 N.M. 231, 824 P.2d

14 1033.

15 {5} As mentioned above, Plaintiff’s tort claims against Defendant Villegas and

16 Plaintiff’s contract claims against Defendant USAA-CIC were appropriately

17 bifurcated. [RP 184] In addition, the record proper indicates that the propriety of the

18 two orders granting summary judgment to Defendant USAA-CIC previously came

2 1 before this Court. [RP 247, 278] This Court’s calendar notice proposed summary

2 dismissal for lack of a final order. [RP 300] Subsequently, no memorandum in

3 opposition to that calendar notice was filed, the appeal was dismissed, and the case

4 returned to the district court. [RP 304]

5 {6} Immediately thereafter, however, Defendant USAA-CIC moved for

6 presentment of a final order dismissing it from the case with prejudice. [RP 306] The

7 parties fully briefed the matter [RP 306, 321, 324, 326, 334, 339], and the district

8 court entered a final order dismissing all of Plaintiff’s breach of contract claims

9 against Defendant USAA-CIC with prejudice. [RP 350] The order of dismissal was

10 entered without a hearing, and it clarified that the previously entered orders for

11 summary judgment had disposed of all of Plaintiff’s breach of contract claims against

12 Defendant USAA-CIC. [RP 350]

13 {7} The order of dismissal states that “[t]he Court finds that there are no remaining

14 claims for breach of contract against Defendant USAA-CIC.” [RP 350] This is a

15 final, appealable order with regard to Plaintiff’s claims against Defendant USAA-CIC.

16 See Rule 1-054(B)(2) NMRA (stating in applicable part that “[w]hen multiple parties

17 are involved, judgment may be entered adjudicating all issues as to one or more, but

18 fewer than all parties. Such judgment shall be a final one unless the court, in its

19 discretion, expressly provides otherwise and a provision to that effect is contained in

3 1 the judgment”). The fact that Plaintiff’s tort claims against Defendant Villegas were

2 unresolved at the time the district court entered the order dismissing Defendant

3 USAA-CIC does not affect the finality of the order of dismissal against Defendant

4 USAA-CIC. This is particularly true under the circumstances of this case, as we more

5 fully discuss below, where Plaintiff failed to respond to the two motions for summary

6 judgment and the presentment motion with any specific evidence or documentation

7 or affidavits that he suffered loss of wages, injury, aggravation of a previous injury,

8 or that he has any outstanding damages payable under the insurance contract.

9 {8} Plaintiff’s memorandum does not revisit the finality concerns he raised in the

10 docketing statement, and we remain persuaded that our analysis of this matter as set

11 forth in the calendar notice is correct and appropriate. See, e.g., Taylor v. Van

12 Winkle's IGA Farmer's Mkt., 1996-NMCA-111, ¶ 5, 122 N.M. 486, 927 P.2d 41

13 (recognizing that issues raised in a docketing statement, but not contested in a

14 memorandum in opposition are abandoned). We hold that the district court’s order

15 of dismissal is a final, appealable order.

16 PLAINTIFF’S PROCEDURAL ISSUES ARE NOT A BASIS FOR REVERSAL

17 {9} Plaintiff raises numerous procedural issues in the docketing statement,

18 including that the district court erred (1) in allowing a licensed attorney to argue

19 summary judgment for Defendant in pleadings without ever having entered an

4 1 appearance; (2) in limiting the kinds of pleadings Plaintiff could file in response to the

2 motion for presentment; (3) in reducing the summary judgment hearing to fifteen

3 minutes and not allowing Plaintiff more time to argue regarding the issue of lost

4 wages; (4) in notifying Plaintiff five days prior to the summary judgment hearing,

5 which did not allow Plaintiff time to prepare; (5) in dismissing the wage claim by

6 summary judgment with prejudice after allowing Defendant to argue that no wage

7 claim had been presented and for dismissal without prejudice; (6) in not allowing

8 Plaintiff to file important pleadings by facsimile; (7) in ruling on motions without a

9 hearing and oral argument, and in conferring with opposing counsel in Plaintiff’s

10 absence; (8) in fast-tracking the litigation; and (9) in allowing Defendant to opt out

11 of serving Plaintiff notice of the final hearing. [Informal DS 5-6]

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