Coast Center for Orthopedic and Arthroscopic Surgery, LLC v. West American Insurance Company

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of California granted the parties’ joint motion to modify the scheduling order and allowed West American Insurance Company to file an amended answer. The court found good cause under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16 because a policy defense was discovered during written discovery, and noted the absence of undue delay or opposition.

Holdings

1. When a scheduling order establishes a deadline for amending pleadings and that deadline has passed, the party seeking amendment must obtain modification of the scheduling order and demonstrate good cause under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b), rather than relying solely on Rule 15(a)'s liberal amendment policy.
2. West American demonstrated good cause under Rule 16(b) to amend its answer because counsel discovered during written discovery that a policy defense had not been pleaded, the proposed amendment concerned defenses related to the insurance policy, there was no evidence of undue delay, and the plaintiff did not oppose the motion.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the scheduling order should be modified to permit West American Insurance Company to amend its answer after the pleading-amendment deadline.
2. Whether the defendant demonstrated good cause under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b) for the untimely amendment.

Disposition

other