However anyone requesting leave to amend in California must comply with the provisions of California Rule of Court 3.1324 or risk having their motion denied. Rule 3.1324 states that
“(a) Contents of motion
A motion to amend a pleading before trial must:
(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.
(b) Supporting declaration
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.
(c) Form of amendment
The court may deem a motion to file an amendment to a pleading to be a motion to file an amended pleading and require the filing of the entire previous pleading with the approved amendments incorporated into it.
(d) Requirements for amendment to a pleading
An amendment to a pleading must not be made by alterations on the face of a pleading except by permission of the court. All alterations must be initialed by the court or the clerk.
Both the California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal have stated in numerous decisions that permitting amendments in the furtherance of justice is to be liberally permitted at any stage of the proceeding
“This statutory provision giving the courts the power to permit amendments in furtherance of justice has received a very liberal interpretation by the courts of this state.” Klopstock v. Superior Ct. (1941) 17 Cal.2d 13, 19.
Liberal amendment of pleadings has been the established policy of California since 1901.
“That the trial courts are to liberally permit such amendments, at any stage of the proceeding, has been established policy of this state since 1901.” Hirsa v. Superior Ct. (1981) 118 Cal.App.3d 486, 488-89
The policy favoring leave to amend is so strong that amendment must be permitted unless the adverse party can show meaningful prejudice which includes the running of the statute of limitations, a delay of the trial, the loss of critical evidence, or added preparation costs.
Unless a showing of meaningful prejudice is made by the adverse party even delay alone is not a sufficient reason for denying leave to amend.
Attorneys or parties in California considering requesting leave to amend a pleading may view a portion of a sample motion for leave to amend containing brief instructions, a memorandum of points and authorities, sample declaration and proof of service by mail sold by the author can use the link shown below.
Sample motion for leave to amend in California
The author of this blog post, Stan Burman, is an entrepreneur and freelance paralegal who has worked in California and Federal litigation since 1995 and has created over 235 sample legal documents. Visit his website at LegalDocsPro website
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Please note that the author of this blog post, Stan Burman is NOT an attorney and as such is unable to provide any specific legal advice. The author is NOT engaged in providing any legal, financial, or other professional services, and any information contained in this blog post is NOT intended to constitute legal advice.
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