§ 576.Amendment of Pleading Or Pretrial Conference Order

Trials rarely go exactly the way the pleadings and pretrial order anticipated. Section 576 gives a judge broad, ongoing authority to fix that mismatch -- allowing amendment of any pleading, or of a pretrial conference order itself, at any time, whether before or after commencement of trial.

The standard is furtherance of justice, coupled with whatever terms the judge finds proper to attach to granting the amendment -- conditions that often include continuances, costs, or other accommodations to protect a party surprised by the change.

This section is a natural companion to Title 7a's pretrial conference process. A conference order adopted under the rulemaking authority of §§ 575 and 575.1 is meant to define and narrow the issues for trial, but § 576 recognizes that even a carefully prepared order sometimes needs adjustment once trial reveals something the parties or the court didn't anticipate.