Before a United States Magistrate Judge, TIG Insurance Company (“TIG”) moved for leave to amend its complaint for a second time to include breach of contract claims arising out of two additional reinsurance contracts. The defendants opposed the motion and argued that the two new claims were unrelated to the existing claims and that discovery would be substantially increased. However, the Magistrate Judge granted TIG’s motion, reasoning that courts regularly allow amendments of pleadings to join additional claims under Rule 18(a), even when those claims arise out of different transactions, and that the need for additional discovery is a consequence of almost every amendment of the pleadings, which, by itself, does not constitute sufficient prejudice to preclude the amendment. TIG Ins. Co. v. Century Indemnity Co., Case No. 08-7322 (USDC S.D.N.Y. Apr. 8, 2009).
This post written by Dan Crisp.