PAUL M. WARNER, Chief Magistrate Judge.
District Judge Clark Waddoups referred this case to Chief Magistrate Judge Paul M. Warner pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A).
Plaintiffs filed the original complaint in this action on November 21, 2016.
On June 2, 2017, Defendants moved to dismiss Plaintiffs' first amended complaint.
On July 18, 2018, the parties filed a stipulated motion to amend the scheduling order.
On September 13, 2018, the parties filed a stipulated motion to allow them additional time to amend their pleadings.
On November 2, 2018, the parties filed a stipulated motion to amend the scheduling order.
On January 25, 2019, the parties filed a stipulated motion to amend the scheduling order.
On March 25, 2019, Plaintiffs filed the motion currently before the court, in which they seek leave to file a fourth amended complaint.
Plaintiffs' motion is brought under Rule 15(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). Under that rule, "[t]he court should freely give leave" to amend pleadings "when justice so requires." Id.; see also Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962). The decision about whether to provide a party leave to amend its pleadings "is within the discretion of the trial court." Minter v. Prime Equip. Co., 451 F.3d 1196, 1204 (10th Cir. 2006) (quotations and citation omitted). "Refusing leave to amend is generally only justified upon a showing of undue delay, undue prejudice to the opposing party, bad faith or dilatory motive, failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, or futility of amendment." Bylin v. Billings, 568 F.3d 1224, 1229 (10th Cir. 2009) (quotations and citation omitted). The court will address those factors in turn.
Plaintiffs contend that their motion is timely and was not unduly delayed. Plaintiffs argue that their motion was filed by the deadline most recently ordered by the court. Plaintiffs further argue that by stipulating to an extension of the deadline for motions to add parties, Defendants contemplated that Plaintiffs would be filing a motion to add additional parties.
The court agrees with Plaintiffs' arguments. By agreeing to extend the deadline for motions to add parties, Defendants knew, or should have known, that Plaintiffs would potentially move for leave to amend their complaint on or before that extended deadline. If Defendants had objections to the potential that Plaintiffs would seek leave to amend their complaint, Defendants should not have agreed to extend the deadline for filing such motions. Because Plaintiffs' motion was filed prior to the relevant deadline and was contemplated by the parties through their stipulated motion to amend the scheduling order, the court concludes that Plaintiffs' motion was not unduly delayed.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the court does have some concerns about Plaintiffs' diligence in identifying relevant parties and seeking leave to add those parties. At this point, the court accepts as being made in good faith Plaintiffs' assertion that they only recently discovered the parties to be added by way of their fourth amended complaint. However, if Plaintiffs seek leave to add additional parties in the future, any such motion will be closely scrutinized by this court for undue delay.
For substantially the same reasons that Plaintiffs argue that their motion was not unduly delayed, Plaintiffs contend that Defendants will not be unduly prejudiced by Plaintiffs' proposed amendment. Specifically, Plaintiffs point to the above-referenced footnote in the most recent scheduling order and note that said footnote was included at Defendants' insistence. Consequently, Plaintiffs argue, Defendants cannot now claim undue prejudice when they expressly considered the fact that Plaintiffs might seek leave to add additional parties and the corresponding effects that would have on discovery deadlines and limitations.
The court again agrees with Plaintiffs' arguments. If Defendants believed they would be unduly prejudiced by the addition of parties, they should not have agreed to extend the deadline for filing motions to add parties. By expressly considering the potential that Plaintiffs would seek leave to add additional parties and agreeing to an extended deadline for Plaintiffs to do so, Defendants cannot now claim undue prejudice.
However, as stated above, the court has some reservations about Plaintiffs' diligence in identifying relevant parties and seeking leave to add those parties. Consequently, if Plaintiffs seek leave to add additional parties in the future, any such motion will be closely scrutinized by this court for undue prejudice.
As noted above, the court accepts as being made in good faith Plaintiffs' assertions concerning the recent discovery of the additional parties to be added by way of their fourth amended complaint. Accordingly, at this point, the court cannot ascribe to Plaintiffs any bad faith or dilatory motive. However, for the same reasons previously stated, any future attempts by Plaintiffs to add additional parties will be closely scrutinized by this court for bad faith or dilatory motive.
Given Plaintiffs' assertion that they only recently learned of the additional parties they seek to add by way of their fourth amended complaint, which the court accepts as being made in good faith, Plaintiffs could not have added those parties by way of previous amendments.
Defendants argue, for various reasons, that Plaintiffs' motion should be denied because the claims against the parties to be added by way of Plaintiffs' fourth amended complaint are futile. At this juncture, the court cannot conclusively determine whether those claims are futile. In the court's view, that determination would be best made through any dispositive motions to be filed by the newly added parties. Furthermore, the court concludes that any arguments in support of any such dispositive motions are best made by the additional parties to be added, not by Defendants.
After considering the relevant factors, the court concludes that Plaintiffs should be provided with leave to file their fourth amended complaint. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY
ORDERED that Plaintiffs' motion for leave to amend complaint
IT IS SO ORDERED.