Group III: Pleadings and Motions · Last amended March 1, 2011 · Last verified July 15, 2026
In one sentenceRule 15 governs how and when a party may amend a pleading before, during, and after trial, and sets the test for when an amendment — including one that changes a defendant's name — relates back to the date of the original pleading rather than the date it was filed.
(1)Amending as a matter of course. A party may amend its pleading once as a matter of course:
(A)before being served with a responsive pleading; or
(B)within 21 days after serving the pleading if a responsive pleading is not allowed and the action is not yet on the trial calendar.
(2)Other amendments. Except as allowed by Rule 15(a)(1), a party may amend its pleading only with the opposing party's written consent or the court's leave. Leave shall be freely given when justice so requires.
(3)Time to respond. Unless the court orders otherwise, any required response to an amended pleading must be made within the time remaining to respond to the original pleading or within 14 days after service of the amended pleading, whichever is later.
(1)During trial. If, at trial, a party objects that evidence is not within the issues raised in the pleadings, the court may permit the pleadings to be amended. The court should freely permit an amendment when doing so will aid in presenting the merits and the objecting party fails to satisfy the court that the evidence would prejudice that party's action or defense on the merits. The court may grant a continuance to enable the objecting party to meet the evidence.
(2)After trial. When an issue not raised by the pleadings is tried by the parties' express or implied consent, it must be treated in all respects as if raised in the pleadings. A party may move - at any time, even after judgment - to amend the pleadings to conform them to the evidence and to raise an unpleaded issue. Failure to amend does not affect the result of the trial of that issue.
(1)When an amendment may relate back. An amendment to a pleading relates back to the date of the original pleading when:
(A)the law that provides the applicable statute of limitations allows relation back;
(B)the amendment asserts a claim or defense that arose out of the conduct, transaction, or occurrence set out - or attempted to be set out - in the original pleading; or
(C)the amendment changes the party or the naming of the party against whom a claim is asserted, if Rule 15 (c)(1)(B) is satisfied and if, within the period provided by law for commencing the action against the party to be brought in by the amendment, the party:
(i)received such notice of the action that it will not be prejudiced in defending on the merits; and
(ii)knew or should have known that the action would have been brought against it, but for a mistake concerning the proper party's identity.
(2)Notice to the state. When the State of North Dakota or a state officer or agency is added as a defendant by amendment, the notice requirements of Rule 15(c)(1)(C)(i) and (ii) are satisfied if, during the stated period, process was delivered or mailed to the attorney general of North Dakota or to the officer or agency.
(d)Supplemental pleadings. On motion and reasonable notice, the court may, on just terms, permit a party to serve a supplemental pleading setting forth any transaction, occurrence or event that happened after the date of the pleading to be supplemented. The court may permit supplementation even though the original pleading is defective in stating a claim or defense. The court may order that the opposing party plead to the supplemental pleading within a specified time.
Explanatory Note
Rule 15 was amended, effective March 1, 1986; March 1, 1990; March 1, 2011. Rule 15 is based on Fed.R.Civ.P. 15. Rule 15 was amended, effective March 1, 2011, in response to the December 1, 2007, revision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules. Subdivision (a) was amended effective March 1, 1986, by adding the phrase "pleading is one to which no responsive pleading is permitted and the" to conform to the federal rule. Subparagraph (a)(1)(B) was amended, effective March 1, 2011, to increase the time to amend a pleading from 20 to 21 days. Paragraph (a)(3) was amended, effective March 1, 2011, to increase the time to respond to an amended pleading from 10 to 14 days. Subdivisions (c) and (d) were amended in 1971 to conform to amendments in the federal rule in 1963 and 1966. Subdivision (d) was amended to clarify that a supplemental pleading could be allowed even though the original pleading was defective in its statement of a claim or defense. Subdivision (c) was amended to clarify that an amendment changing the party against whom a claim is asserted relates back to the date of the original pleading. Rule 15 was amended effective March 1, 1990. The amendments are technical in nature and no substantive change is intended.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 15(a) gives a party one amendment as a matter of right — before being served with a responsive pleading, or, if no response is allowed, within 21 days of serving the pleading as long as the action isn't yet on the trial calendar. Beyond that one free amendment, a party needs the opposing party's written consent or the court's leave, which the rule says must be freely given when justice requires it. Whoever has to respond to an amended pleading gets whichever is later: the time remaining to respond to the original pleading, or 14 days after the amendment is served.
Rule 15(b) loosens the pleadings further once trial begins. If evidence strays outside the pleaded issues and a party objects, the court may still allow an amendment, and should do so freely when it would help present the merits and the objecting party can't show real prejudice — with a continuance available to let that party catch up. When the parties try an unpleaded issue by consent, express or implied, the rule treats it as if it had been pleaded all along; a party can move to conform the pleadings to the evidence at any time, even after judgment, and failing to make that motion doesn't change the outcome of the issue tried.
Rule 15(c) sets out when an amendment relates back to the date of the original pleading instead of the date it's filed — a distinction that can decide whether a claim survives a statute of limitations. Relation back applies when the governing limitations law allows it, when the amendment arises from the same conduct, transaction, or occurrence already set out (or attempted to be set out) in the original pleading, or when it changes the party being sued — provided that new party had timely notice of the action sufficient to avoid prejudice, and knew or should have known the suit would have named it but for a mistake about identity. When the State of North Dakota or a state officer or agency is the party being added, that notice requirement is satisfied if process reached the attorney general within the same window.
Rule 15(d) covers supplemental pleadings — those that add events happening after the original pleading was filed, rather than amending what already happened. On motion and reasonable notice, the court may allow one on just terms, and it can do so even where the original pleading was itself defective in stating a claim or defense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I amend my complaint without asking the court for permission?
Yes, once. Rule 15(a)(1) allows an amendment as a matter of course before a responsive pleading is served, or, if none is required, within 21 days of serving the original pleading, so long as the case isn't yet on the trial calendar.
What is relation back, and why does it matter?
Relation back treats an amended pleading as if it were filed on the date of the original pleading. Rule 15(c) matters most when a statute of limitations has run in the interim — an amendment that relates back can still proceed even though a brand-new filing making the same claim would be too late.
Can I fix the name of a defendant I sued after the statute of limitations has run?
Sometimes. Rule 15(c)(1)(C) allows it if the amendment arises from the same conduct as the original pleading and the new party had timely notice sufficient to avoid prejudice, and knew or should have known the suit would have named it but for a mistake about the proper party's identity.
Can pleadings be amended during trial itself?
Yes. Rule 15(b)(1) lets the court permit an amendment when evidence at trial goes beyond the pleaded issues, and the court should allow it freely when doing so helps present the merits and the objecting party can't show prejudice.
What is a supplemental pleading, and how is it different from an amendment?
A supplemental pleading, addressed in Rule 15(d), adds a transaction, occurrence, or event that happened after the original pleading was filed, rather than correcting or expanding on what the original pleading already alleged. The court may allow one on just terms, even if the original pleading itself was defective.
Source & verification. Rule text and the Explanatory Note are
reproduced verbatim from the North Dakota Rules of Civil Procedure, adopted by the
Supreme Court of North Dakota. Last verified July 15, 2026.
· Official source
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