# F I L E D
M a r ch 31, 1999 C eci l C r o w son , Jr . A p p e l l a t e C o u r t C l e r k I N TH E CO U R T O F APP EALS OF TENNESS E E AT NASHVI L L

E F I D E L I T Y & CAS UAL T Y CO. ) O FNE WYORK, ) ) P l a i n tiff / A p p e lla n t , ) A ppea l N o . ) 01- A

- 01- 9804- C H

- 00203 v . ) ) W i l l i a m son C han cer y GRE GORY E N T E R T A I N M E N T , I NC. ) N o . I I 24914R 2

) D e f end ant / A p p e l l ee. ) A P P EAL F ROM THE CHANCERY COURTOF W I L LI A M S ON CO UNTY AT F RANKLI N , TE

NNES S E E T H EHONORAB L E HE NRY DE N M ARK B E L L , J UDGE DAVI D A. L U F K I N L U F K I N HE N L E Y & CONNE R A tto r n e y s a t L a w 5 3 0 S. G a y St. 7 t h Fl oor K noxvi l l e ,

T ennes s e e

37902 A tto r n e y fo r P l a i n tiff

/ A p p e lla n t J . RU S S ELL FAR R A R J OHN E . CAR

T E R F ARRA R & BATES , L. L . P . 211 Seven th A venue , N . , Sui t e 320 N a s hvi l l e , T ennes s e e

37219- 1823 A tto r n e y s fo r D e f e n d a n t/A p p e lle e 

## REVER S ED AND R

E M ANDED PATR I C I A J . CO TTRELL, J U D G E CONC UR: KOCH, J . CAI N , J .2 

## M E M ORANDUM OPI

N I O N T h e pri m a r y i s sue i n t h i s cas e i s w het her t he t r i a l co u rts houl d have g r ant e d P l a i n tiff ’ s m o tio n to a m e n d its c o m p l a i n t to c o r r e c t d e fic i enci es t hat w e r e r a i s ed by

D e f enda n ti n a m o t i on f o r j udgment

on the pl e a d i ngs . Pl a i

n t i f f d i s put e s th a t th e C o m

p l a i n t is d e fic i e n t , but

r eques t ed t

o be al l o w ed t o am end t h e C o m p l a i n tby at t achi n g d i scoverabl e docum ent s that w oul d have

bee n i n tr oduce

d a t tr i a l . W e a

r e of the opi n i on that l e a ve t o am end s houl d have

bee n gr ant ed. T h e under

l y i ng l a w s u i ti nvol ves

the A ppel l ant i n s u r e r’s atte m

p t s t o col l ect pay m ent f o r w o rker s com pens a t i on i n s u r anc

e cover age w h i ch A ppel l ant ass e r t s w a s pr ovi ded a

nd Appel l e e deni e s w a s pur cha s ed.T h e p arti es’ filin g s in th e tria l cour tin d ica te th a t t

h e y w e r e cl ear l y aw a r e o f th e b a s i s o f th e d i s p u t e . F i d e lity and C a s u a ltyc l a i m s it p r o v i d e d a be n e fit (w o r k e rs’ c o m

p e n s a t i o n in s u r a n c e cov e r age) and t

hat Gr egor y En t e r t a i

n m ent f a i l ed t o pr ovi de c

o m pens a t i on f o r t h a tbene f it. F r o m the be g i nni ng of

the la w s u i t , G r egor

y Ent e r t a i n ment has def ende d on the ba

s i s i tneve

r s i gned a c o n tra c t w ith F i d e litya n d C a s u a ltyto p r ovi de t he i n s u r anc e cover age . W h a tcoul

d have b een are l a tiv e l y s tra i g h tfo r w ar d la w s u it b e c a m e p r oce dur a l l y com p l i c a t ed.Adi s cove

r y di s put e e m e r

ged w hen G r egor y E n t e rta i n me n t s ought t o depos e F i d e l i t y ’ s e m p l o y ee w h o se af

f i dav i tw as at

t ached t o the Co m

p l a i n t . T he de

pos i t i on w a s

noti c e d fo r tw o d a y s b e f o r e C h ris t m a s , b y not i c e dat ed D ecem

ber 3. I n i tia l l y , on D e ce m ber 22, Fi del

i t y re si s t ed t

h e depos i t i o n cl a i mi ng no know l edge of that em p l oye e , and r eques t i ng that

any depos i t i ons of F i d e lityb e tak e n a t F i d e lity ’ s o f fi c e o r b y te l e p h o n e o r in w ritin g . L a t e r, F i d e litya tte m

p t e d to c o r r e c t its e r r o r r e g ar d i n g its em p l oye e , but s ought t o have the de pos i t i on of

the out

- o f

- s t a t e e m p l oy e e tak e n b y w rit

ten in terro g a t o r y o r by te l ephone . M eanw h i l e , ot her sk i r mi shes we r e escal a t i n g . T he C o m p l a i n t on S w orn A c count w a s file d A ugu s t28, 1997; the A n s w e r w a s f i l ed O c t ober 13, 1997; P lain t if f f i l ed a M o t i on f o r D e f aul tJ udgment ; an A

m ende d A n s w e r ( under oat h ) w a s f i l ed on O c t

ober 27, 1997; D e f

enda n tf i l ed a M o t i on f o r J udgment

on th e P l e a d i ngs on J anua

r y 12, 1998, al

l egi ng Pl a i n t i ff f a i l ed t o st a t e a cl a i m

and , a lte r n a tiv e l y r equ est

ed a cont i nuanc e of the t r i a l w h i ch ha d bee n s e t f o r Febr uar y b y agr e e d or der w h i ch a l s o w i t hdr e w

the m o t i on f

o rdef aul tj udgment ; on3

January 28, 1998, Pl a i

n t i f f r eques t ed a

cont i nuanc e of the he a r i ng onth e m o tio n f o r j udgment

on the pl e a d i ngs , w h i ch he

a r i ng had b e e n se tf

o r J anua r y 26; on Febr uar y 6, 1 9 9 8 , P

l a i n tiff file d aR e s

pons e t o D e f enda n t ’ s M o t i on f

o r J udgment o n th e Pl e a d in g s ; on

Fe b r uar y 6 , 1998, the t

r i a l cour tdi s mi s s ed t

he co m p l a i n t w i t hout pr e j udi c e , f

i ndi ng def

enda n t ’ s m o t i on t o be w

e l l t ake n , appa r ent l y fin d i n g a de

f e c tunder T enn.R . C i v . P. 10. 03 i n the f a i l u r e t o at t a c h doc u m ent

( s ) under l y i n g th e la w s u it. T

h e tria l c o u rt n o t e d th a t P l a i n t iff h a d s ugges t ed a n y s uch de f e c tcoul d be c u r ed by am endm ent . R u l e 15. 01 of

th e T enn ess ee R u l es of

C i v i l P r oced ure pr o v i des t hat l eave t o am e n d “sh all

b e fre e l y g i v e n w h e n j u s t i c e so re q u ires . ” O u r Supr e m e Court has r e cogni z e

d that th i s l angua

ge i n R u l e 15. 01 “ s ubs t ant

i a l l y l e s s ens

th e e x erci s e o f

p r e - t r i a l d i s c r e tio n o n th e p ar t o f atr i a l ju d g e . ” B r

anch v . W a r r e n , 527 S . W . 2 d 89 at

91, 92 ( T enn.1975) ; see a l s o C r a v e n v. L a w s o n , 534 S. W . 2 d 653, 655 ( T enn.1976) . I n th e in s t ant

ca s e , j udgment

on the pl e a d i ngs w a s

r ende r ed i n f avor of def enda n tre s u ltin g in d i s mi s s a l o f t he a c t i on. I n cons

i der i ng w het her t o gr ant a m end m ent , a t

r i a l cour ts houl d cons

i der s eve r a l f a c t o r s , i ncl udi ng “ undue dela y i n filin g th e a m e n d m e n t, la ck of not i c e t o the opp o s i ng par t y , bad f a i t h by t h e m ovi n g par

t y , and t he f u t i l i t y of am endm ent . ” G a rd i n e r v. W

o r d , 731 S. W . 2 d 889, 891- 9 2 ( T enn.1987) . T he t r i a l cour tdi d not addr e s s any of thes e f a c t o r s , and based upo

n our r evi e w of the e n t i r e r e co r d , w e a

r e una b l e t o f i nd any of th e f a c t o r s militatin g a g a i n s t a m e n d m e n t o r a n y in j u s tic e w h ich w o u l d

re s u l t fro m a m end m ent . S i nce P l a i n tiff o f f e r e d to a m e n d its C o m p l a i n t to a tta c h d o cum e n t s , th i s C ourtneed no tadd r essthe i s sue o f w het her T

enn ess ee R u l e of C

i v i l P r oced ure 10. 0 3 re q u ire d th a tthe doc u m ent s be a t t a c hed t o the Co m

p l a i n t . I tap p e a rs t

o u s t h a tamend m ent is th

e m o st stra i g

h tfo r w ar d me t h o d to fu rth e r r e s o l u tio n o f th i s app a r ent l y s t r a i g h t fo r w ar d d i s p u t e . Ru l e 1 of t he T enn ess ee R u l e of C i v i l P r oce d u r e provi des, “These r u l es shal l be co nst rued t o secure t he j ust , spee d y , and i nexpe

n s i ve de t e r mi nat i on of eve r y a c tio n . ” T h i s p o lic y is fu rth e r e d in th i s case by al l o w i n g amend m ent . T h e o r d e r o f th e tria l c o u rt d i s mi s s i n g p l a i n tiff ’ s c o m p l a i n tand,

ther eby, deny i n g p lain t iff’s r equ est

f or leave t o am end i s vacat e d a n d p l a i n tiff is a llo w e d t o am end t he co m p l a i n t .4 T h i s c a s e is re m a n d e d to th e tria l c o u rt f o r fu rth e r p r o c e e d i n g s . In v i e w o f the p r oced ural

hi s t ory of t h i s cas e , the co s ts of

app eal ar e t axe

d t o A ppel

l ant .

_______________

____________

____ _ PATR I C I A J . CO TTRELL, J U D G E CONC UR:

_______________________ _ _ W I L L I A M C. KOCH,

J UDGE

_______________________ ___ W I L L I A M B. CAI

N , J UDGE