Mass Tort
New Mexico
Survey Results

New Mexico District Court Rule of Civil Procedure 1-023 Class actions.

R. Civ. P. Dist. Ct. 1-016. Pretrial conferences; scheduling; management.

R. Civ. P. Dist. Ct. 1-029. Stipulations regarding discovery procedure.

R, Civ. P. Dist. Ct. 1-030.1. Audiotaped and videotaped depositions.

R. Civ. P. Dist. Ct. 1-053. Masters.

NMSA §§ 41-4-1 through 41-4-29. Tort Claims Act.

NMSA §§ 41-5-1 through 41-5-29. Medical Malpractice Act.

Eastham v. Public Employees' Retirement Ass'n Bd., 89 N.M. 399. Defines the three types of class action suits covered by N.M.R.Civ.P. Dist. Ct. 23(a), commonly known as "true," "hybrid," and "spurious."

Berry v. Fed. Kemper Life Assur. Co., 2004 NMCA 116. Discusses granting certification in mass tort cases, and trends in mass torts and class actions across the country.

The court of appeals refers most cases not decided on its summary calendar to its mandatory appeals mediation program.

The Twelfth Judicial District uses differentiated case management (DCM) to expedite the flow of civil cases.

The Third Judicial District uses settlement facilitators. See the settlement conference information sheet, and the facilitator's outcome report.

Scheduling order may be called for by the court in any action pursuant to Rule 1-016. Sanctions may be imposed for failure to obey a scheduling or pretrial order, if no appearance is made on behalf of a party at a scheduling or pretrial conference, or failure to participate in good faith. R.Civ. P. Dist. Ct. 1-016(F).

The Case Lookup application provides browser-based access to active and closed district and magistrate court cases. The court has also implemented a water rights imaging system for use by court staff in managing complex water rights litigation. The system captures and allows for easy search and retrieval large volumes of paper documents.

The Judicial Information Systems Council (JIFFY) developed standards for digital court recording and digital document imaging.

The Judicial Information Division (JID) of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) is responsible for automation.

The appellate court uses a version of the statewide docketing system to current cases.