Amending Pleadings

During the course of litigation, lots of times there are new claims or issues that arise in both family law and personal injury claims.  A problem I see a lot is that people try to file "amended" pleadings without getting permission from the Court.  Rule 15 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure provides that permission of the Court must be obtained to file amended pleadings.  From a practical standpoint, my experience has been that most chancellors and judges will not even entertain not allowing a party to amend their pleadings unless the matter is set for trial.  If no one is going to object, you really need to look at Rule 15(b) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure which allows a party to request that the pleadings be made to conform to the evidence presented on issues tried by the express agreement or consent of the parties.  From a practical standpoint, it is often a good idea to make this as an oral motion at the end of trial to make sure that all the issues everyone has been arguing about for several days is covered by the pleadings.  It takes virtually no time and may save you a reversal on appeal.