Ballard v. Fernandez, 35,319

Plaintiff Linda Eckert Ballard filed a negligence complaint in state district court on October 8, 2014 alleging injuries from a motor vehicle accident on March 22, 2011.
The complaint was filed more than three years after the accident; New Mexico’s general statute of limitations for such claims is three years.
Ballard previously filed a timely complaint in federal court; that federal suit was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
Ballard argued the state action was a continuation of the federal suit under New Mexico’s savings statute, § 37-1-14, which allows revival of an action if a new suit is commenced within six months after failure of the first suit without negligence in its prosecution.
Defendant Valene Fernandez argued the federal filing constituted negligence in prosecution because diversity and federal-question jurisdiction were lacking, so the savings statute did not apply.
The district court granted summary judgment for Defendant on statute-of-limitations grounds; the Court of Appeals affirmed, finding the federal filing was negligent and the savings statute inapplicable.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the state suit is saved by § 37-1-14 as a continuation of the timely federal suit	Ballard: federal suit tolled time; state suit filed within six months and continues first action	Fernandez: federal filing was negligent prosecution (no federal jurisdiction), so savings statute unavailable	Held: filing in federal court was negligent; savings statute does not apply; dismissal affirmed
Whether federal court actually had federal-question jurisdiction	Ballard: complaint raised federal issues (Medicare/Medicaid) giving federal-question jurisdiction	Fernandez: federal court lacked federal-question jurisdiction; it dismissed the case on that basis	Held: federal court rejected federal-question jurisdiction; Court of Appeals relied on that determination
Whether Ballard reasonably believed she lacked diversity when filing federal suit	Ballard: argued she lived in Texas at accident time (implying diversity)	Fernandez: Ballard was living in New Mexico when she filed federal suit, so diversity did not exist	Held: Ballard was a New Mexico resident at filing; diversity did not exist; filing was negligent
Appropriateness of summary judgment	Ballard: disputes facts justify a trial	Fernandez: no genuine issue of material fact; statute-of-limitations bars suit	Held: de novo review; no genuine factual issue avoiding summary judgment; affirmed

Self v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 126 N.M. 396, 970 P.2d 582 (summ. judgment standard and de novo review)
Romero v. Philip Morris Inc., 148 N.M. 713, 242 P.3d 280 (view facts favoring nonmovant on summary judgment)
Barbeau v. Hoppenrath, 131 N.M. 124, 33 P.3d 675 (filing in federal court can be negligence in prosecution precluding savings statute)
Foster v. Sun Healthcare Grp. Inc., 284 P.3d 389 (application of Barbeau where plaintiff knew diversity did not exist)