Judge: Serena R. Murillo, Case: 21STCV14908, Date: 2023-03-23 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 21STCV14908 Hearing Date: March 23, 2023 Dept: 29
TENTATIVE
Plaintiff Demetra Stuart’s motion for leave to amend the complaint is
GRANTED. Plaintiff
is ordered to file the first amended complaint attached as Exhibit 1 to her
motion within 10 days of this order.
Legal Standard
California Code
of Civil Procedure section¿473, subdivision¿(a)(1) provides, in relevant part:
“The court may, in furtherance of justice, and on any terms as may be proper,
allow a party¿to amend any pleading or proceeding by adding or striking out the
name of any party, or by correcting a mistake in the name of a party, or a
mistake in any other respect; and may, upon like terms, enlarge the time for answer
or demurrer.¿ The court may likewise, in its discretion, after notice to the
adverse party, allow, upon any terms as may be just, an amendment to any
pleading or proceeding in other particulars; and may upon like terms allow an
answer to be made after the time limited by this code.”¿
“This discretion
should be exercised liberally in favor of amendments, for judicial policy
favors resolution of all disputed matters in the same lawsuit.”¿¿(Kittredge
Sports Co. v. Superior Court¿(1989) 213 Cal.App.3d 1045, 1047.)¿
Ordinarily, the court will not consider the validity of the proposed amended
pleading in ruling on a motion for leave since grounds for a demurrer or motion
to strike are premature.¿ The court, however, does have discretion to deny
leave to amend where a proposed amendment fails to state a valid cause of
action as a matter of law and the defect cannot be cured by further
amendment.¿¿(See¿California Casualty General Ins. Co. v. Superior Court¿(1985)
173 Cal.App.3d 274, 281¿(overruled on other grounds by¿Kransco¿v. American
Empire Surplus Lines Ins. Co.¿(2000) 23 Cal.4th 390).)¿
Under¿California
Rules of Court¿Rule 3.1324(a), a motion to amend a pleading shall (1) include a
copy of the proposed amendment or amended pleading, which must be serially
numbered to differentiate it from previous pleadings or amendments; (2) state
what allegations in the previous pleading are proposed to be deleted, if any,
and where, by page, paragraph and line number, the deleted allegations are
located; and (3) state what allegations are proposed to be added to the
previous pleading, if any,¿and where, by page, paragraph, and line number, the
additional allegations are located.¿
Under¿California
Rule of Court¿Rule 3.1324(b), a separate declaration must accompany the motion
and must specify (1) the effect of the amendment; (2) why the amendment is
necessary and proper; (3) when the facts giving rise to the amended allegations
were discovered; and (4)¿the reasons why the request for amendment was not made
earlier.¿
Discussion
Plaintiff
seeks leave to amend the complaint, adding a claim for dangerous condition of
public property against Defendant based upon information elicited through
discovery on August 8, 2022. This
amendment is also necessary and proper as it will enable advancement of a
cognizable claim directly related to the dangerous condition of property,
notice and maintenance. Plaintiff argues that Defendant will not be prejudiced
by the addition of the new claim. Defendant appeared in this action less than 6
months ago. Since then, Plaintiff has acted cooperatively with new counsel,
especially in light of their new introduction into this case. Further, trial is
not until September 13, 2023.
The Court finds Plaintiff has complied with
CRC Rule 3.1324 by including
a copy of the proposed amended complaint and indicating what allegations are
proposed to be added to the previous pleading, and what allegations are
proposed to be deleted. Plaintiff also explains that she obtained the
information required for her cause of action for dangerous condition of public
property through the course of discovery in August of 2022. This is sufficient
to explain why the amendment is necessary and proper, when the facts giving
rise to the amended allegations were discovered, and why it was not made
earlier.
As Defendant has not opposed the motion for leave to amend, it
does not appear it would be prejudiced by permitting this
amendment. Further, trial is set for September 13, 2023; thus, there is
sufficient time to conduct discovery and prepare for trial.
Accordingly, the
Court exercising its discretion liberally in favor of amendments, grants the
motion for leave to amend the complaint.
Conclusion
Based on the
foregoing, Plaintiff’s motion for leave to amend the complaint is GRANTED. Plaintiff is ordered
to file the first amended complaint attached as Exhibit 1 to her motion within
10 days of this order.
Moving party is directed to give notice.