Opinion ID: 1665348
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: WHETHER SUFFICIENT ACTION WAS TAKEN TO PREVENT DISMISSAL PURSUANT TO Miss. R. Civ. P. 41(D)

Text: ¶ 5. Any court of law or equity may exercise the power to dismiss for want of prosecution. This power, inherent to the courts, is necessary as a means to the orderly expedition of justice and the court's control of its own docket. Walker v. Parnell, 566 So.2d 1213, 1216 (Miss. 1990) (quoting Watson v. Lillard, 493 So.2d 1277, 1278 (Miss.1986)). It has been clear since the adoption of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure that the granting of motions to dismiss is a matter within the discretion of the trial court. Roebuck v. City of Aberdeen, 671 So.2d 49, 50 (Miss. 1996) (citing Carter v. Clegg, 557 So.2d 1187, 1190 (Miss.1990)). This Court will not disturb a trial court's ruling on a dismissal for want of prosecution unless it finds an abuse of discretion. Watson, 493 So.2d at 1279. ¶ 6. The first issue in dispute is over the satisfaction of Miss. R. Civ. P. 41(d) which governs dismissals for want of prosecution. Rule 41(d) calls for the clerk to mail notice to attorneys of civil cases identified as having an inactive record for twelve or more months. Miss. R. Civ. P. 41(d). [S]uch case will be dismissed by the court for want of prosecution unless within thirty days following said mailing, action of record is taken or an application in writing is made to the court and good cause shown why it should be continued as a pending case. If action of record is not taken or good cause is not shown, the court shall dismiss each such case without prejudice. Id. ¶ 7. One possibility for preventing dismissal under Rule 41(d) is that the plaintiff perform an action of record. In 2000, this Court in Wilson v. Freeland acknowledged that there are no Mississippi cases construing what constitutes an `action of record.' That statement holds true today as there still exist no cases defining what constitutes an action of record. 773 So.2d 305, 309 (Miss.2000). Cucos relies on Wilson for the proposition that an action of record must hasten the suit to judgment. This is incorrect. The Court simply arrived at the conclusion that the Order signed in that case was sufficient as an action of record, and the Court used as its foundational reasoning citations to the holdings of various jurisdictions from which the Court noted [m]any of these cases focus on whether the action is `hastening the suit to judgment.' Id. ¶ 8. For several reasons, Wilson is weak precedent when used for defining or placing limits on what constitutes an action of record. In Wilson only five justices participated, and three votes constituted the majority. Also, this Court is not bound by decisions from other jurisdictions. Griffith v. Gulf Refining Co., 215 Miss. 15, 61 So.2d 306, 307 (1952). While the Court may regard such decisions as persuasive authority if well reasoned, the Court is at complete liberty to disregard them. Id. The Court may refuse to follow such decisions which are contrary to the public policy of the state. Id. ¶ 9. Wilson is only controlling in cases where the trial court decides to use the hasten the suit to judgment analysis in determining whether an action satisfies Rule 41(d). The sole significance of Wilson is the finding that an action of record encompasses actions that hasten the suit to judgment. The decision does not hold, however, as Cucos argues, that an action of record only consists of actions that hasten the suit to judgment, but, instead, those actions that hasten the suit to judgment are merely one category of actions now deemed sufficient. In providing its analysis, the Court did not create a new standard that in every situation where a claimant attempts to prevent dismissal in compliance with Rule 41(d) by performing an action of record that action must hasten the suit to judgment. See Wilson, 773 So.2d at 309. No such requirement exists, and the Court will not acknowledge Wilson as putting forth such a requirement for the purpose of resolving the issue at hand. ¶ 10. The Court of Appeals, whose propositions of law are only binding upon this Court if adopted by this Court, has twice decided whether particular action was sufficient to be deemed an action of record, but neither decision provides a clear standard or defines the phrase. See Curry v. Walls, 871 So.2d 762 (Miss.Ct. App.2004) (holding in reliance on Wilson v. Freeland that a letter requesting a copy of the record was not an action on the record for the purposes of preventing dismissal pursuant to Miss. R. Civ. P. 41(d)); Guidry v. Pine Hills Country Club, 858 So.2d 196 (Miss.Ct.App.2003) (holding in reliance on Wilson v. Freeland that a motion to stay on the active docket was not an action on the record for the purposes of preventing dismissal pursuant to Miss. R. Civ. P. 41(d)). Cucos attempts to use the holdings in Curry and Guidry to strengthen the proposition it puts forth that Wilson requires an action of record to hasten the suit to judgment. Each of these decisions is faulty in its analysis, misstating what is simply a means of analysis in Wilson as a mandate. See Curry, 871 So.2d at 764; Guidry, 858 So.2d at 198-99. ¶ 11. Cucos argues that the McDaniels' letter was insufficient to constitute an action of record under Rule 41(d) and uses the hasten the suit to judgment analysis from Wilson, Curry, and Guidry as the bases for this argument. However, that analysis is not mandatory for trial courts. These findings merely provide analytical options for trial courts. As dismissal for want of prosecution is within the trial court's discretion, the trial court judge may find that the plaintiff has performed an action of record without that action being in accord with the hasten the suit to judgment analysis, and likewise, a trial court judge may, within his discretion, use those cases to support a decision to dismiss a case with similar facts, such as this one. Without an explicit definition or standard, what suffices as an action of record is left to the reasonable discretion of the trial court. Additionally, Curry and Guidry do not affect the trial court's decision in this case since in 2002 when the actions in question occurred, neither case had been decided. So, even if deemed controlling law for the proposition Cucos states, neither case would have applied to the McDaniels' actions in 2002 as Guidry was decided in 2003 and Curry in 2004. Therefore, despite the factual similarity to this case, since these cases neither define nor purport to place limits on what constitutes an action of record, neither Curry, Guidry, nor Wilson require a trial court to use the same hasten the suit to judgment analysis used in those cases. ¶ 12. Seeing that this Court is not bound by any previously promulgated definition or restraint on what constitutes an action of record, interpretation of general wording in rules or statutes, such as that in Rule 41(d), is often aided by looking to the function or the purpose of the rule. The only such purpose or function of Rule 41(d) noted by this Court to date has been as a means necessary to the orderly expedition of justice and the court's control of its own docket. Watson, 493 So.2d at 1278. When satisfaction of the rule is in dispute, these two functions can serve as guidance for the trial court. The trial court should consider whether the action taken by the plaintiff was in accordance with the orderly expedition of justice. Certainly, the court is afforded great discretion in the second function of Rule 41(d), which is to control its own docket. Thus, in a situation, such as the one before us, where the only standard this Court has set forth is that in determining the sufficiency of the plaintiff's action the trial court must do what is necessary for justice as well as what the trial court decides is appropriate in controlling its own docket, this Court will construe Rule 41(d) liberally. [1] ¶ 13. Moreover, though this Court fails to find a mandatory standard in Wilson, it recognizes the legitimacy of the method of analysis in that case, the use of other jurisdictions' jurisprudence as guidance when this Court has not definitively ruled on the issue. Decisions from other jurisdictions may have persuasive authority if well reasoned and promotive of justice. Griffith, 61 So.2d at 307. One such decision is Clark v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. 785 So.2d 779, 785 (La.2001). In Clark the Louisiana Supreme Court held that its rule regarding want for prosecution actions should be liberally construed in favor of maintaining the plaintiff's suit. [2] Id. Accordingly, dismissal should be considered as a last resort, and any dispute about satisfaction of the rule that can be resolved in favor of the plaintiff should be resolved in favor of the plaintiff. See id. at 787. We adopt this view regarding satisfaction of Miss. R. Civ. P. 41(d). ¶ 14. Dismissal for want of prosecution is not a punitive concept as evidenced by the requirement of dismissal without prejudice. Instead, it is a means of docket regulation. In considering which cases should be pruned from the docket pursuant to Rule 41(d), the trial court in using its discretion should employ a balancing concept. [3] Clark, 785 So.2d at 787. There are typically two competing policy considerations. Id. The Court must weigh the great social interest in provision of every litigant with his day in court and the attempt to not deprive the plaintiff of that opportunity for technical carelessness or unavoidable delay against the purpose of the Rule as found by the Court in Walker to be achievement of the orderly expedition of justice and control by the trial court of its own docket. 566 So.2d at 1216. If the facts of this case were such that the trial court, in an effort to control its own docket, wanted to dismiss this case for want of prosecution and take or postpone the plaintiff's day in court, this Court would need to balance the two competing policy considerations. However, in this case the two policy considerations merge since the trial court's desired manner of controlling its own docket includes wanting to allow the plaintiff his day in court. When a plaintiff clearly abandons his case, the purpose of Rule 41(d) should be allowed to prevail, but in this situation where the plaintiffs sent a written request to the court that the case stay open, and the trial court held a hearing on the matter to determine if there was good cause, or, in other words, if reinstatement was just, and determined that it wanted to keep the case on its docket, the balance of policy interests favors allowing the McDaniels' case to proceed. ¶ 15. The Louisiana Code, more specific in language than the comparable Mississippi Rule, requires more than an action of record, namely, a step in prosecution. La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 561(A)(1) (2006). The Louisiana Code also provides specific examples of sufficient acts, such as the inclusion of formal discovery, and notes that this act constitutes a step in prosecution regardless of whether filed. La.Code Civ. Proc. art. 561(B) (2006). Even with greater specificity and a more stringent requirement, the Louisiana rule has been construed as accepting a letter in accordance with local practice as sufficient to prevent dismissal. See Ellzey v. Employers Mut. Liab. Ins. Co., 388 So.2d 843, 845 (La.Ct. App.1980) (affirming the trial court's reinstatement of a case after dismissal for want of prosecution when the plaintiff's letter was a step in prosecution under Art. 561 but the court was unaware of the letter because the clerk did not file it). ¶ 16. The Florida rule governing involuntary dismissal for want of prosecution also specifies in greater detail than the Mississippi rule what actions will prevent dismissal. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.420(e) (2006). Satisfactory actions include a filing of pleading, order of court, or otherwise. Id. Yet, a Florida appeals court in Koscot Interplanetary Inc. v. Zurich Ins. Co. adopted a liberal construction of what constitutes an action of record. 580 So.2d 318, 319 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1991). The court rejected the trial court's finding that a letter reminding the judge about setting the case for trial did not constitute a pleading that would represent file activity. Id. (quoting the trial court's order). The court of appeals reversed the trial court's dismissal for want of prosecution. Id. Under the Mississippi Rule, which is more vague than both the Louisiana and Florida rules, and thus, open to a wider range of judicial discretion, we deem a letter acceptable as a local practice sufficient to prevent dismissal when there is no controlling authority to the contrary. ¶ 17. That this Court will not disturb a trial court's finding on appeal unless it is manifestly wrong is a doctrine too well known to require citation. Watson, 493 So.2d at 1279. This often cited standard of review clearly requires deference to the fact findings of the court, and the trial court found that McDaniel acted in such a manner to satisfy Rule 41(d). A letter in response to a Rule 41(d) motion for dismissal that simply requests that a case remain on the docket is an action of record when the letter is (1) timely sent within the thirty-day period which begins upon the filing of the motion, (2) found to be a sufficient action on the record and that finding is not in contradiction to an existing statute or decision of this Court, and (3) considered as part of a hearing where the trial court determined good cause existed for allowing the case to remain on its docket. While these facts need not be found by every trial court to constitute an action of record, they are sufficient for a court which within its discretion chooses to deem them as such. ¶ 18. Pursuant to the reasoning that this Court has adopted from other jurisdictions and the liberal construction of Rule 41(d) in accordance with the objectives of attaining justice and allowing the trial courts to control their own dockets, the McDaniels' letter in response to the clerk constituted an action of record such as would preclude a determination of dismissal under Rule 41(d). Additionally, the letter coupled with the findings made by the trial judge at the hearing held by the trial court were sufficient to show that there was good cause as required under Rule 41(d). This Court finds that in matters relating to dismissals pursuant to Rule 41(d), the trial court has considerable discretion, and considering the totality of the trial court's findings, the McDaniels satisfied Rule 41(d).