Court Opinion

ID: 9481084
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:07:00.24994+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:48:04.882546
License: Public Domain

HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
In my view, the district court erred in denying defendant Timilty’s motion to amend the judgment and his answer to reflect his contention that he did not sign the guaranty.
Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states unequivocally that leave to amend a pleading ‘‘shall be freely given when justice so requires.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a). The liberal allowance of amended pleadings “provide[s] maximum opportunity for each claim to be decided on its merits rather than on procedural technicalities.” 6 C. Wright, A. Miller & M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1471, at 505-06 (2d ed. 1990). The Supreme Court has stated:
In the absence of any apparent or declared reason — such as undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party by virtue of allowance of the amendment, futility of amendment, etc. — the leave should, as the rules require, be “freely given.”
Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182, 83 S.Ct. 227, 230, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962).
The district court denied Timilty leave to amend based on the “unjust hardship” an amended answer would work on the plaintiff, “who was placed on notice that the validity of all of the defendants’ signatures to the guaranty was not at issue.” On the contrary, Timilty denied signing the guaranty in his answers to plaintiff’s request for admissions and interrogatories and during his deposition. He also presented deposition testimony of an expert witness who testified that Timilty’s signature had been forged. The plaintiff therefore had notice that Timilty denied signing the guaranty before the district court granted summary judgment.
Although Timilty should have filed his motion to amend promptly after the interrogatories were answered and his deposition filed, his delay did not cause the plaintiff undue prejudice. The plaintiff was aware of Timilty’s defense of forgery when it raised the issue of the guaranty’s execution in discovery. In fact, the plaintiff had taken steps to refute the defense. The plaintiff does not allege that witnesses are no longer available, that witnesses’ recollections would be dimmed by the delay, or that it would be otherwise harmed by the delay. Of course, the plaintiff would be required to go to trial on this issue of whether Timilty signed the guaranty, but this is not the type of prejudice recognized by law. Timilty is entitled to have this disputed issue resolved at trial. To deprive him of this opportunity is to deny him simple justice.
Accordingly, I concur in the opinion in all respects but one: I would reverse the denial of Timilty’s motion to amend his answer and remand to the district court with directions to it to give Timilty the opportunity to amend his answer and to have the disputed issue tried.