Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-5_19-cv-02482/USCOURTS-cand-5_19-cv-02482-1/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Civil Rights Act

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Case No.: 5:18-cv-00121-EJD

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT

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United States District Court 

Northern District of Californi

a

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

SAN JOSE DIVISION 

LAWRENCE OGBECHIE, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

R COVARRUBIAS, 

Defendant. 

Case No. 5:18-cv-00121-EJD 

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR 

LEAVE TO FILE FIRST AMENDED 

COMPLAINT 

Re: Dkt. No. 32 

Presently before the Court is Plaintiff Lawrence Ogbechie’s Motion for Leave to File First 

Amended Complaint. Ogbechie seeks to amend his complaint to name three new defendants, who 

are or were supervisors of Defendant R. Covarrubias, in place of Doe defendants. Covarrubias 

opposes the Motion. The Court has considered the parties’ paper and held a hearing on the 

Motion. For the reasons discussed below, the Court grants the Motion. 

Under Rule 15, leave to amend should be “freely give[n]” as justice requires. Fed. R. Civ. 

P. 15(a)(2). But, where—as here, a party seeks leave to amend their pleadings after the time to do 

so provided in the case’s scheduling order, the party must show good cause under Rule 16. Fed. 

R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4); Coleman v. Quaker Oats Co., 232 F.3d 1271, 1294 (9th Cir. 2000); see Dkt. 

No. 19. This good cause standard “primarily considers the diligence of the party seeking the 

amendment.” Coleman, 232 F.3d at 1294 (citation and quotation omitted). 

Here, Ogbechie has shown that, while he may have known the identities of Covarrubias’s 

supervisors since early discovery, he did not understand their potential liability until he had taken 

their depositions. Ogbechie deposed proposed-defendant Assistant Warden N. Walker on April 

12, 2019. Ogbechie then filed this Motion less than four weeks later on May 6, 2019. The Court 

Case 5:19-cv-02482-EJD Document 12 Filed 06/27/19 Page 1 of 2
Case No.: 5:18-cv-00121-EJD

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT

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United States District Court 

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finds that Ogbechie has been diligent in seeking to amend the complaint and has shown good 

cause for the amendment. See In re Intuitive Surgical Sec. Litig., 2017 WL 363269, at *2 (N.D. 

Cal. Jan. 25, 2017) (finding good cause where the motion was filed within weeks of the final 

document production and final deposition). 

A court may deny leave to amend a complaint where the amendment would cause the 

opposing party undue prejudice, is sought in bad faith, constitutes an exercise in futility, or creates 

undue delay. Janicki Logging Co. v. Mateer, 42 F.3d 561, 566 (9th Cir. 1994). The Court finds 

that none of these considerations weigh against the amendment. Covarrubias has not shown that 

the amended complaint would cause him undue prejudice. Ogbechie is not acting in bad faith. He 

promptly moved to amend the complaint after completing his depositions of the proposed 

defendants, and there is no indication that he otherwise brings this Motion in bad faith. The 

amendment would not be futile. Finally, while the amendment will require modifying the current 

case schedule, the modification will not amount to an undue delay. 

Accordingly, the Court grants the Motion. Ogbechie shall file the amended complaint as 

its own entry on the docket. The Court issues a modified scheduling order concurrently with this 

order. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: June 27, 2019. 

______________________________________ 

EDWARD J. DAVILA 

United States District Judge 

Case 5:19-cv-02482-EJD Document 12 Filed 06/27/19 Page 2 of 2