William Morris Jeanne Morris v. Morgan Stanley & Co. Randal Longfield

William and Jeanne Morris appeal from a July 1989 Order of the District Court for the Northern District of California dismissing their action for failure to prosecute under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). We review a dismissal under Rule 41(b) for abuse of discretion. Carey v. King, 856 F.2d 1439, 1440 (9th Cir.1988) (per curiam). Appellants also assert the district court was without jurisdiction to issue either the order dismissing their suit or a subsequent order clarifying the order dismissing the action. The existence of subject matter jurisdiction is a question of law we review de novo. Kruso v. International Tel. & Tel. Corp., 872 F.2d 1416 , 1421 (9th Cir.1989), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 110 S.Ct. 3217 , 110 L.Ed.2d 664 (1990). We now affirm.

FACTS

In April 1985 the Morrises filed a complaint against Morgan Stanley and Company (“Morgan”) alleging violations of state and federal securities laws. They amended the complaint in May 1985. In July 1985 Morgan responded with a motion to compel arbitration of certain of the state law claims, and to dismiss the remaining state and federal causes of action. The district court granted the motion in part, referring five state…