Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Outside of Civil Rights Cases, Request to Amend Complaint Must Be Accompanied by Proposed Amendment (Third Circuit)

Delrio-Mocci v. Connolly Properties Inc., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 3698 (3d Cir. Feb. 24, 2012):

Bolmer also argues that the District Court abused its discretion by refusing to allow him to amend his complaint for a third time in order to plead additional facts that would demonstrate that the Property Managers prevented their undocumented residents from being detected by law enforcement. He relies on Alston v. Parker, 363 F.3d 229 (3d Cir. 2004), for the proposition that, "even when a plaintiff does not expressly seek leave to amend, 'if a claim is vulnerable to a 12(b)(6) dismissal, the court must give the party an opportunity to amend its pleadings unless such amendment would be futile or the party has expressed his intent to stand on his pleadings.'" Appellant's Br. 48 (quoting Alston, 363 F.3d at 236). Alston, however, was given no opportunity whatsoever to amend his complaint, while Bolmer amended his complaint twice. Alston, 363 F.3d at 234 n.7. Moreover, Alston's was a civil rights complaint. "In non-civil rights cases, the settled rule is that properly requesting leave to amend a complaint requires submitting a draft amended complaint." Fletcher-Harlee Corp. v. Pote Concrete Contrs., Inc., 482 F.3d 247, 252-53 (3d Cir. 2007). Bolmer never presented a draft of a third amended complaint to the District Court. This failure is fatal to his request.

Share this article:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Recent Posts

(1) Appellate Review of Inherent Power Sanctions (7th Circuit): Factual Findings Reviewed for Clear Error, Choice of Sanction for Abuse of Discretion — 4-Element Test for Reversal; (2) Sanctions and Class Actions: Monetary Sanctions Properly Imposed on Defendants for Improper Communications with Class Members (Represented Parties) — “[I]f The Class And The Class Opponent Are Involved In An Ongoing Business Relationship, Communications From The Class Opponent To The Class May Be Coercive” (Good Quote); (3) Monetary Sanctions under Goodyear v. Haeger: If Same Fact-Gathering Would Have Been Conducted Absent The Misconduct, No But-For Causation — But Only “Rough Justice” Required, “Not Accountant-Like Precision” (Good Quote) — Once Misconduct Is Clear, Time Spent Ferreting It Out Compensable under Goodyear; (4) Goodyear Did Not Overrule Long-Standing Rule That Courts May Impose Modest Civil Monetary Sanctions to Curb Litigation Abuse; (5) Appellate Jurisdiction Lacking Where Sanctioned Attorney Fails to File Notice of Appeal and Lawyer’s Intent to Appeal Not Apparent from Client’s Notice; (5) Rule 11 Improper Purpose — Party May Have Many Purposes for Pursuing Claim — As Long As Claim Is Supported by Good Faith Belief in the Merits, “A Parallel Reason Does Not Violate Rule 11” — To Deny A Motion for Sanctions, The District Court Need Not Address Every Argument: “Arguments Clearly Without Merit Can, And For The Sake Of Judicial Economy Should, Be Passed Over In Silence” (Good Quote); Non-Monetary Sanction on Counsel: Complete Twice The Required Amount Of Professional Responsibility Hours For Her Next Continuing Legal Education Cycle Imposed By The State Bar

Archives