Amending a Complaint

A complaint is the document filed by a plaintiff to initiate litigation.  The complaint includes all of the causes of action a plaintiff has against one or more defendants and all of the factual allegations that support the causes of action.  Sometimes, parties wish to add factual allegations or causes of action to their complaint either because additional facts were uncovered during discovery or a litigant forgot to include content when they initially filed a complaint.  However, amending a complaint is easy to accomplish in a number of different contexts.

Amendment Without Court Approval

It is important to know that amending a complaint can be accomplished without court approval in a variety of contexts.  It is helpful to be able to amend a complaint without court approval since obtaining court approval oftentimes requires some effort and it is possible that a court will refuse to grant the amendment.  In addition, asking a court to approve an amendment can also delay the resolution of a case.

The rules concerning whether a party can amend a complaint without court approval differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.  Depending on the jurisdiction, litigants typically are permitted to amend a complaint before the time to respond to the complaint has expired.  This makes sense since if the other side did not respond to the complaint yet, they might not be prejudiced by the amended complaint.  In addition, parties may also have a certain amount of time after a party responds to a complaint to file an amended complaint.  It should be noted that parties are usually only afforded one amendment without needing to ask for court approval.  As a result, it is important that litigants think carefully about the amendment and ensure that they make all of the changes needed so that they will not need to further amend a complaint.

Amendment with Court Approval

If parties are not permitted to amend a complaint without court approval, they will likely need to file a motion to amend a complaint.  The motion to amend the complaint usually discusses the procedural history of the case and why the complaint is being amended.  Moreover, litigants also typically need to attach the proposed amended pleading to the motion so the court is able to evaluate the proposed pleading to see if it would be helpful to permit the party to amend the complaint.  In addition, depending on the jurisdiction, litigants may need to underline or otherwise highlight the amendments inside a pleading that make it different from the initial complaint so it is easier for a judge to evaluate the amendment.

Normally, the standard to amend a complaint is low.  Courts want parties to be able to make all of the claims and allegations they can in litigation and justice is typically served by permitting an amendment. However, parties should keep the number of amendments to a minimum and show why the amendment is needed to have the best chance possible of having an amendment approved by the court.

Conform to Evidence

Another important thing to keep in mind when amending a complaint is that a complaint and other pleadings can be amended to conform to evidence.  Complaints are filed at the beginning of a lawsuit before the parties have had the chance to investigate all of the factual allegations relate to a case.  As a result, it is possible that the complaint will miss some of the claims and allegations that might be relevant to a lawsuit.

Fortunately for litigants, courts oftentimes allow parties to amend their complaint or other pleading to conform to the evidence at trial.  Parties may litigate matters at trial even though they are outside of the pleadings, and in order to ensure that a case is fully heard, courts may allow parties to amend their pleadings to conform their evidence.  This may be done by a motion before or during trial, and an experienced trial attorney should know how parties can amend their pleadings to conform to evidence.

Relation-Back Doctrine

A powerful tool when it comes to amending a complaint is the relation-back doctrine.  Sometimes, parties may amend a complaint after the statute of limitations (the deadline by which they need to file a lawsuit containing a claim) expires.  In many instances, filing claims after the statute of limitations means that a party will not be able to pursue a given cause of action.  However, if the claims in the amended complaint relate to allegations in the original complaint, then the amended pleading will relate back to the original complaint and the statute of limitations may not be an issue in the case.  To have the best chance possible of getting the benefits of the relation-back doctrine, parties should be as detailed as possible with the allegations in a complaint.  If the benefits of this doctrine are preserved, parties can preserve their rights and have the best chance possible of securing a favorable recovery.

The Rothman Law Firm is experienced in all kinds of litigation matters, including cases in which it is necessary for a plaintiff to amend their complaint one or more times.  If you are looking for an experienced New York and New Jersey litigation lawyer to handle your lawsuit or other legal issue, please feel free to contact The Rothman Law Firm to request a free consultation.