Leave to Amend Complaint Should Have Been Granted—Criteria Explained

The Second Department determined Supreme Court should have allowed plaintiff to amend the complaint. Leave to amend should only be denied if the added causes of action are patently insufficient or devoid of merit.  Defendant would suffer no prejudice or surprise:

“In the absence of prejudice or surprise resulting directly from the delay in seeking leave, such applications are to be freely granted unless the proposed amendment is palpably insufficient or patently devoid of merit” … . Under this standard, a party seeking leave to amend a pleading need not make an evidentiary showing of merit … , and leave to amend will be granted unless such insufficiency or lack of merit is clear and free from doubt … . * * * …[The] proposed causes of action are neither patently insufficient nor palpably devoid of merit. Moreover, the parties against whom those causes of action are sought to be asserted will not suffer undue prejudice or surprise resulting directly from the plaintiff’s delay in seeking to amend the complaint … . Stein v Doukas, 2015 NY Slip Op 04115, 2nd Dept 5-13-15