[NOT FOR PUBLICATION NOT TO BE CITED AS PRECEDENT]

                 United States Court of Appeals

                     For the First Circuit











No. 99-1455



                      JESUS M. PADRO-MEDINA,



                      Plaintiff, Appellant.

                     ______________________

                                

               IVELISSE MALDONADO-RIVERA, ET AL.,

                                

                          Plaintiffs,

                                

                               v.

                                

JAIME G. MIGUELES, ANGEL CARLO-GUTIERREZ AND PEDRO TOLEDO-DAVILA,

                            ET AL.,

                                

                     Defendants, Appellees.

                                

                                

                                

          APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                                

                FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

                                

       [Hon. Juan M. Perez-Gimenez, U.S. District Judge]

                                

                                

                                

                             Before

                                

                     Torruella, Chief Judge,

               Boudin and Lipez, Circuit Judges.

                                

                                

                                

     Lydia Lizarribar-Masini, on brief for plaintiff Jesus M.

Padro-Medina.

     Gustavo A. Gelpi, Solicitor General, Edda Serrano-Blasini,

Deputy Solicitor General, and Sylvia Roger Stefani, Assistant

Solicitor General, Department of Justice, on brief for appellees

Pedro Toledo, Jaime Migueles and Angel Carlo-Gutierrez.









December 9, 1999







            Per Curiam.  After a careful review of the record and

  the submissions of the parties, we affirm.  The record before

  us shows "extremely protracted inaction (measured in years)

  [and] disobedience of court orders."  Benjamin v. Aroostook

  Medical Ctr., Inc., 57 F.3d 101, 108 (1st Cir. 1995) (quotation

  marks and citation omitted).  The case was over three and one-

  half years old when it was dismissed, during which time counsel

  for appellant served only one set of interrogatories, failed to

  respond to her opponent's interrogatories, failed to answer a

  motion to dismiss, and missed without notice or excuse the only

  depositions she scheduled.  Counsel failed to appear at a

  status conference as ordered by the court, and then failed to

  explain her absence from that conference when defendants sought

  dismissal.  The court did not abuse its discretion in removing

  this case from its docket.  Angulo-Alvarez v. Aponte de la

  Torre, 170 F.3d 246, 251 (1st Cir. 1999) (dismissals under

  Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(b) reviewed for abuse of discretion) 

  (citations omitted).

            Affirmed.  1st Cir. Loc. R. 27(c).