Tulare Local Health Care District et al v. California Department of Health Care Services et al

Filing 59

ORDER by Judge Hamilton granting 53 Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint; ORDER Vacating Hearing Date. (pjhlc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 9/27/2017)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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TULARE LOCAL HEALTH CARE
DISTRICT, et al.,

Case No. 15-cv-2711-PJH

Petitioners,
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ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR
LEAVE TO AMEND COMPLAINT

v.
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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF
HEALTH CARE SERVICES, et al.,
Respondents.

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Petitioners in the above-entitled action seek leave to file an amended petition for

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writ of mandate. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15 requires that a plaintiff obtain either

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consent of the defendant or leave of court to amend its complaint once the defendant has

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answered, but “leave shall be freely given when justice so requires.” Fed. R. Civ. P.

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15(a); see also, e.g., Chodos v. West Pub. Co., 292 F.3d 992, 1003 (9th Cir. 2002) (leave

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to amend granted with “extreme liberality”). Leave to amend is thus ordinarily granted

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unless the amendment is futile, would cause undue prejudice to the defendants, or is

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sought by plaintiffs in bad faith or with a dilatory motive. Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178,

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182 (1962); Smith v. Pac. Props. & Dev. Corp., 358 F.3d 1097, 1101 (9th Cir. 2004).

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Respondents oppose the motion, arguing that amending the petition will be futile,

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and that they will be prejudiced thereby. Having read the parties’ papers and carefully

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considered their arguments and the relevant legal authority, the court hereby GRANTS

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the motion. The court finds no obvious prejudice to respondents from the filing of an

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amended petition, and finds further that the applicability of the recent decision in Hoag

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Mem. Hosp. Presbyterian v. Price, 866 F.3d 1072 (9th Cir. 2017), can be addressed in

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the cross-motions for summary judgment.

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The hearing on the motion for leave to amend, previously noticed for October 4,

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2017, is VACATED. No later than Monday, October 2, 2017, petitioners shall file the

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amended petition as a stand-alone document. Thereafter, the parties shall meet and

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confer and submit a stipulation as to the briefing schedule for the cross-motions that were

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previously scheduled to be filed on October 4, 2017.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: September 27, 2017
__________________________________
PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON
United States District Judge

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