Blackwood, Inc. v. Reading Blue Mtn.
and Norther Railroad Col – Superior Court – July 15, 2016
Under
Pa.R.C.P. 1033, a party can amend his pleading either with the consent of the
other party or with the court’s permission. “Leave to amend lies within the
sound discretion of the trial court and the right to amend should be liberally
granted at any stage of the proceedings unless there is an error of law or
resulting prejudice to an adverse party.” Hill v. Ofalt, 85 A.3d 540, 557
(Pa.Super. 2014) (quoting Werner v. Zazyczny, 681 A.2d 1331, 1338 (Pa. 1996)).
Under
the pertinent rule: A party, either by filed consent of the adverse party or by
leave of court, may at any time change the form of action, add a person as a
party, correct the name of a party, or otherwise amend the pleading. The
amended pleading may aver transactions or occurrences which have happened
before or after the filing of the original pleading, even though they give rise
to a new cause of action or defense. An amendment may be made to conform the
pleading to the evidence offered or admitted. Pa.R.C.P. 1033. However,
amendment is not permitted to present a new cause of action where the statute
of limitations has expired. See Phillips v. Lock, 86 A.3d 906 (Pa.Super. 2014).
Generally,
an abuse of discretion occurs if a complaint is dismissed without leave to
amend. Hill, supra. “There may, of course, be cases where it is clear that
amendment is impossible and where to extend leave to amend would be futile.
However, the right to amend should not be withheld where there is some
reasonable possibility that amendment can be accomplished successfully.” Id. at
557 (citation and emphasis omitted).
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