Del. R. Ch. Ct. 15
Comment
In 2024, Rule 15 was revised to align its language in certain respects with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 15, while maintaining the Court's unique approach to (1) subsequent pleadings embodied in former Rule 15(aaa); (2) filing the amended pleading as a separate, signed, and verified docket entry; and (3) the 120-day timeframe in former Rule 15(c)(3). Except as noted, no substantive changes in the interpretation of the rule were intended by these stylistic changes.
The revision deviates from both the Federal Rules and the prior Rule in the following substantive respects:
First, the rule regarding form of amendments (former Rule 15(aa) and now Rule 15(a)(3)) was revised to conform to the current practice of filing a separate blackline reflecting any changes.
Second, the rule regarding time to amend after certain motions (former Rule 15(aaa) and now Rule 15(a)(5)) was revised in response to Otto Candies, LLC v. KPMG, LLP, 2019 WL 1856766 (Del. Ch. Apr. 25, 2019), to allow 30 days after transfer from another court for a party to determine whether to amend or stand on their pleading.
Finally, a rule regarding the effect of an amended pleading on other parties' claims (Rule 15(a)(4)) was added to clarify that (1) a complainant cannot moot a counterclaim, crossclaim, or third-party claim by amending its complaint; (2) one does not waive a counterclaim, crossclaim, or third-party claim by failing to assert it in an answer to an after filed amended complaint; and (3) a counterclaim, crossclaim, or third-party claim remains extant until dismissed.
As a result of the abrogation of Rule 13(f), an amendment to add a counterclaim is now governed only by Rule 15.