Plaintiff May Not Move to Amend Complaint After Complaint Has Been Dismissed

On October 1, 2019, the First Department issued a decision in Tanner v. Stack, 2019 NY Slip Op. 07039, holding that a plaintiff may not move to amend a complaint after that complaint has been dismissed, explaining:

By the time plaintiff moved for leave to amend, the original complaint had already been dismissed; hence, there was no complaint left before the court to amend.

(Internal quotations and citations omitted).

New York procedural rules give a litigant the right to amend its complaint (at least) once without the court's permission, but as this decision shows, if the complaint has been dismissed in its entirety, there is nothing to amend. Contact Schlam Stone & Dolan partner John Lundin at jlundin@schlamstone.com if you or a client face a situation where the plaintiff attempts to amend its complaint after it has been dismissed.