Gorham et al v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company

Filing 37

ORDER Granting Plaintiffs' 33 Second Motion to Amend Complaint and add two additional causes of action. Plaintiffs shall file an Amended Complaint identical to that attached to the 33 -8 Second Motion to Amend within seven days of the entry of this Order. Signed by Judge James C. Mahan on 3/30/2015. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - SLD)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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***

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MICHAEL GORHAM, et al.,

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Plaintiff(s),

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Case No. 2:13-CV-2274 JCM (GWF)
ORDER

v.
AMERICAN FAMILY MUTUAL
INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendant(s).

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Presently before the court is plaintiffs Michael Gorham’s and Carol Perea’s second motion

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to amend complaint to add two additional causes of action. (Doc. # 33). Defendants did not file

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a response in opposition and the deadline to do so has passed.

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Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a) provides that leave to amend “shall be freely given

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when justice so requires.” The Supreme Court has interpreted Rule 15(a) and confirmed the liberal

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standard district courts must apply when granting such leave. In Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178

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(1962), the Supreme Court explained: “In the absence of any apparent or declared reason–such as

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undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure

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deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party by virtue

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of allowance of the amendment, futility of the amendment, etc.–the leave sought should, as the

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rules require, be ‘freely given.’” Id. at 182. The local rules of federal practice in the District of

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Nevada require that a party submit a proposed, amended pleading along with a motion to amend.

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D. Nev. R. 15-1(a).

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James C. Mahan
U.S. District Judge

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Plaintiffs seek leave of the court to file an amended complaint adding two causes of action,

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and generally correcting errors in the complaint filed by plaintiffs’ previous attorney. (Doc. # 33).

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Plaintiffs’ prior counsel, Courtenay A. Lachenmaier, Esq., filed the complaint on April 15, 2013,

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while she was battling cancer. On May 21, 2013, five weeks after filing the complaint, Ms.

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Lachenmaier passed away. Plaintiffs’ current attorney, James J. Ream, Esq., asserts that the errors

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in plaintiffs’ complaint were a result of Ms. Lachenmaier either not feeling well, or being

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unfamiliar with this area of litigation, and that the mistakes or omissions were not the fault of the

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plaintiffs.

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Plaintiffs have attached their proposed, amended complaint to this motion as required by

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D. Nev. R. 15-1(a). Accordingly, plaintiff’s motion to amend complaint and add two additional

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causes of action will be granted.

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Accordingly,

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IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that plaintiffs’ second

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motion to amend complaint and add two additional causes of action (doc. # 33) be, and the same

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hereby is, GRANTED.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiffs file an amended complaint identical to that
attached to the motion to amend (doc. # 33-8) within seven days of the entry of this order.
DATED March 30, 2015.

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__________________________________________
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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James C. Mahan
U.S. District Judge

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