Maharaj v. Charter Communications, Inc.
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Cynthia Ann Bashant (author)
Analysis
Plaintiff moved for leave to file a First Amended Complaint to correct factual allegations and formatting, a motion that was unopposed by Defendants. The Court granted the motion, deemed the First Amended Complaint filed, and terminated the pending Motion to Dismiss the original complaint.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Grant Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to File First Amended Complaint“In light of the broad policy favoring amendments to pleadings and Defendant’s non-opposition to amendment, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to File a First Amended Complaint (ECF No. 19).” | agree with court The decision follows from Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(1), which mandates that leave to amend be freely given when justice so requires, particularly when the motion is unopposed and involves minor corrections. The court correctly cited Ninth Circuit precedent supporting this liberal standard. |
Terminate Defendant's Motion to Dismiss the Complaint“Further, because the Court has granted Plaintiffs motion, the Court TERMINATES Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the Complaint (ECF No. 14).” | agree with court Under the general rule that an amended complaint supersedes the original, a pending motion to dismiss the original complaint becomes moot upon the filing of the amended complaint. The court correctly applied this procedural principle, noting that the defendant may renew the motion against the new pleading. |
The order itself: sound — The order is procedurally sound. It correctly applies the liberal amendment standard of Rule 15(a) and the Ninth Circuit's interpretation thereof. It also correctly applies the procedural rule that an amended complaint supersedes the original, thereby mooting the pending motion to dismiss. The citation to Lacey v. Maricopa County contains a typo in the volume number (11693 instead of 693), but the proposition cited is accurate and the case is correctly applied.
Opinion
7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 DEVANAN MAHARAJ, Case No. 3:20-cv-00064-BAS-LL 11 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S 12 UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR LEAVE v. TO FILE FIRST AMENDED 13 COMPLAINT CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS, 14 INC., et al., [ECF No. 19] 15 Defendants. 16 17 Before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to File a First Amended Complaint. 18 (ECF No. 19.) Plaintiff seeks to correct factual allegations and make other minor 19 formatting and typographical edits to the pleading. The motion is unopposed by 20 Defendants. (See id. at 2–3; Ex. 3 to Decl. of David X. Lin, ECF No. 19-1.) 21 “In general, a court should liberally allow a party to amend its pleading.” Sonoma 22 Cty. Ass’n of Retired Emps. v. Sonoma Cty., 708 F.3d 1109, 1117 (9th Cir. 2013) (citing 23 Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)); see also Owens v. Kaiser Found. Health Plan, Inc., 244 F.3d 708, 24 712 (9th Cir. 2001) (“A district court ‘shall grant leave to amend freely when justice so 25 requires.’”). Further, a party may amend its pleading without a court order where the 26 opposing party consents in writing. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). 27 In light of the broad policy favoring amendments to pleadings and Defendant’s non- 28 opposition to amendment, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to File a First 1 |} Amended Complaint (ECF No. 19). The First Amended Complaint is deemed filed and 2 ||served as of the date of this Order. The Clerk shall file the proposed amended pleading, 3 || attached as Exhibit 1 to the Declaration of David X. Lin (ECF No. 19-1), on the docket as 4 || the First Amended Complaint. 5 Further, because the Court has granted Plaintiffs motion, the Court TERMINATES 6 || Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the Complaint (ECF No. 14). See Lacey v. Maricopa Cty., 7 11693 F.3d 896, 927 (9th Cir. 2012) (en banc) (“[T]he general rule is that an amended 8 ||complaint supercedes the original complaint and renders it without legal effect[.]’’). 9 ||Defendant may, at its discretion, renew the Motion to Dismiss as to Plaintiff’s First 10 |} Amended Complaint. 11 IT IS SO ORDERED. 12 , 13 || DATED: May 15, 2020 (pill 4 (Doha 6 14 United States District Judge 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28