Q: Amendment of complaint in civil suit and agreement with opposing attorney
I am representing myself pro se in a civil suit in which I was granted permission by the court to amend my complaint once, without prejudice. I filed the amended complaint with changes, including removing certain content and adding more evidence as per the opposing attorney's requests. However, the opposing attorney has informed me that they will file a motion to dismiss the amended complaint. Given that I was only allowed to amend the complaint once, will this count against me if I file another amended complaint? Additionally, should I include a statement indicating that the changes were made based on an agreement with the opposing attorney?
A: You should seek permission from the court to file a second amended complaint. No, you should absolutely not include a statement as you suggest. You are responsible for drafting a complaint that survives a motion to dismiss. You must allege the ultimate facts, or elements, that comprise a good cause of action. You MUST be familiar with the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. (Since the defendant has an attorney, you should have an attorney. That's a hint.)
Barbara Billiot Stage agrees with this answer
A: You can amend once as a matter of right under Florida Rule 1.190, however, you may seek leave to amend from the court which is freely given under most circumstances. Thus, there is technically no limit to the amount of times you may amend. I would not worry if it is only the 2nd time. I've seen 5th, 6th, and 7th amended complaints in cases.
Barbara Billiot Stage agrees with this answer
A:
Generally, the courts will allow more than one amendment but you need the court's permission to amend. You cannot just file another amended complaint.
This website is for general questions and answers and we cannot advise you how to litigate because we do not know your case and cannot review your case in this forum.
Opposing counsel is not your friend and is the last person you should be turning to for suggestions, advice or requests. This could may have even been inappropriate by the attorney depending on the conversations or emails between you.
I agree you need to be familiar with the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure if you are going to represent yourself because you will be held to the standard of a lawyer if you seek too many amendments. Depending on what is at stake you should hire a lawyer, seek legal assistance from a pro bono services offered by your county bar or see if there is a local law school with a legal clinic. This would be especially important if there is a statute or contract that provides for prevailing party legal fees because a technical mistake could put you on the hook for several thousand dollars owed to the defendant. The complaint is just one aspect of a law suit and it gets very complicated from there in regards to the forms and strategy.
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