Thayer C. Lindauer and Helen Lindauer, Husband and Wife v. Thomas M. Rogers

OVERVIEW

Thayer and Helen Lindauer appeal the district court’s order striking their motion for leave to file a second amended complaint following an order granting summary judgment in favor of Thomas Rogers and dismissing the Lindauers’ action with prejudice. In this appeal, we must decide under what circumstances a district court may consider a Rule 15(a) motion to amend a complaint after entering judgment in the case. We hold that, after final judgment has been entered, a Rule 15(a) motion may be considered only if the judgment is first reopened under Rule 59 or 60. We affirm the order of the district court.

FACTS AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

The Lindauers brought this action in diversity against Thomas Rogers on September 14, 1992, in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. They filed an amended complaint on November 5, 1992, which alleged claims for malicious prosecution and abuse of process against Rogers. These claims arose out of a domestic relations case in which Rogers, an attorney representing Thayer Lindauer’s former wife, sought to have Lindauer Law Offices, P.C., a professional corporation, and Thayer Lin-dauer, as its sole shareholder, officer, and…