(a) Amendments Without Leave. A party may amend his pleading once without leave of court within twenty days after its service, or at any time before the period for responding to it expires, or within twenty days after service of a pleading responding to it.
R 3025.Amended and supplemental pleadings.
Article 30. Remedies and Pleading · Last amended 2012 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceLets a party amend a pleading once without permission within a defined early window, gives courts wide discretion to allow further amendments or supplements at any later point on just terms, and requires a proposed amended pleading showing the changes to accompany every motion to amend.
Full Text of CPLR 3025
(b) Amendments and Supplemental Pleadings by Leave. A party may amend his or her pleading, or supplement it by setting forth additional or subsequent transactions or occurrences, at any time by leave of court or by stipulation of all parties. Leave shall be freely given upon such terms as may be just including the granting of costs and continuances. Any motion to amend or supplement pleadings shall be accompanied by the proposed amended or supplemental pleading clearly showing the changes or additions to be made to the pleading.
(c) Amendment to Conform to the Evidence. The court may permit pleadings to be amended before or after judgment to conform them to the evidence, upon such terms as may be just including the granting of costs and continuances.
(d) Responses to Amended or Supplemental Pleadings. Except where otherwise prescribed by law or order of the court, there shall be an answer or reply to an amended or supplemental pleading if an answer or reply is required to the pleading being amended or supplemented. Service of such an answer or reply shall be made within twenty days after service of the amended or supplemental pleading to which it responds.
Plain-English Summary
CPLR 3025 is the workhorse provision for changing a pleading after it's served. Subdivision (a) grants one amendment as of right — no court permission needed — as long as the party acts within twenty days after serving the original pleading, or before the deadline to respond to it expires, or within twenty days after being served with a response to it. Those overlapping windows are built to cover the ordinary early stage of a case, but the right applies only once; a party who has already amended without leave needs the court's permission for anything further.
Subdivision (b) covers amendments and supplemental pleadings beyond that first free pass. They're available at any time by leave of court or by stipulation of all parties, and leave is to be freely given, on terms that can include costs and continuances, reflecting the CPLR's general preference for deciding cases on their merits rather than on pleading technicalities. Since 2011, a motion to amend or supplement must be accompanied by the proposed amended or supplemental pleading, showing clearly what's being changed or added — a documentation requirement, modeled on similar local rules in federal court, that lets the court and the opposing party see exactly what's proposed instead of piecing it together from a bare notice of motion.
Subdivision (c) allows the court to permit pleadings to be amended, before or after judgment, to conform them to the evidence presented at trial — the tool for fixing a mismatch between what was pleaded and what the proof at trial showed. Subdivision (d) closes the loop: unless a law or court order says otherwise, an amended or supplemental pleading gets the same kind of response — an answer or reply — that the original pleading required, due within twenty days after the amended or supplemental pleading is served.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I amend my complaint in New York without asking the court?
Yes, once. CPLR 3025(a) allows an amendment as of right within twenty days of serving the original pleading, before the response deadline expires, or within twenty days after being served with a response to it.
How many times can I amend a pleading without leave of court?
Only once. After that first amendment as of right, CPLR 3025(b) requires leave of court or the stipulation of all parties for any further amendment.
Do I need to attach a redlined or marked-up version when I move to amend a pleading?
Yes. CPLR 3025(b) requires a motion to amend or supplement a pleading to be accompanied by the proposed amended or supplemental pleading, clearly showing the changes or additions.
Is leave to amend a pleading freely given in New York courts?
Yes. CPLR 3025(b) directs that leave be freely given on just terms, which can include the granting of costs and continuances.
Can a pleading be amended to match the evidence presented at trial?
Yes. CPLR 3025(c) lets a court permit pleadings to be amended, before or after judgment, to conform them to the evidence, on just terms.
How long does the other side have to respond to an amended complaint?
CPLR 3025(d) requires a responsive answer or reply, where one would otherwise be required, within twenty days after service of the amended or supplemental pleading.
What if the twenty-day window to amend a pleading without leave has already passed?
The amendment then requires leave of court or the other parties' stipulation under CPLR 3025(b), rather than proceeding as of right under subdivision (a).
Advisory Committee Notes
The Committee proposes the amendment of subdivision (b) of rule 3025 of the CPLR to require the moving party to attach a copy of the proposed amended pleading to any motion to amend that pleading, clearly showing the proposed changes to the pleading. Many federal courts by local rule require the movant to attach the proposed pleading and to show by redline the changes in the complaint or answer that the movant proposes.
Subd (a) of this rule is derived from the first sentence of CPA § 244. No substantial change is intended; the rule has been reworded to clarify its meaning. The period of twenty days after a notice of motion addressed to the pleading has been eliminated, since CPLR rule 3024 contemplates that the motion will be made within twenty days after the pleading is served, a period when amendment is already permitted. Former § 244 did not apply with respect to motions for summary judgment or for judgment on the complaint and affidavits since they were not considered motions addressed to the pleadings. E.g., Earl Commercial Corp. v Then, 259 App Div 787, 18 NYS2d 569 (4th Dept 1940); Morin v Morin, 257 App Div 556, 13 NYS2d 705 (3d Dept 1939); Baker v Reis, 223 App Div 842, 228 NY Supp 307 (2d Dept 1928). Similarly, the motion under CPLR rule 3211(a) is directed to the merits and does not attack formal defects which could be remedied merely by an amendment. The New York rule retained, allowing amendment without leave of court after issue is joined, is more liberal than Federal rule 15(a). The remainder of former § 244 has been eliminated as the question of abuse seems more aptly covered by a general rule. The limitation to one amendment without leave of court contained in the former New York act has been retained, although New Jersey and Missouri have seen fit to eliminate the identical restriction when adopting the Federal rule. NJ R Civ P 4.15-1; Mo Ann Stat § 509.490 (1952).
Subd (b) of this rule is intended to be declaratory of the inherent power of a court to allow amendments to further justice. E.g., Kalt Lumber Co. v Dupignac, 150 App Div 400, 134 NY Supp 1098 (1st Dept 1912); People v Raquette Falls Land Co. 93 Misc 583, 158 NY Supp 467 (Sup Ct 1916). It is also intended to continue the rule that if a pleading has been once amended without leave of court, leave must be obtained for further amendments. See, e.g., Orlik v National Carbon Co. 176 App Div 600, 163 NY Supp 768 (1st Dept 1917). The power to allow amendments to correct a “mistake, omission, irregularity or defect,” which was granted in CPA § 105, has been utilized to justify broad discretion. The last sentence of this subdivision more explicitly states the policy of liberality. The wording of this subdivision is based upon Federal rule 15(a), but supplemental pleadings are included since similar considerations are applicable. The former sections of the CPA which governed supplemental pleadings, §§ 245, 245-a and 245-b, seemed unnecessarily complex. This subdivision is intended to grant the widest possible discretion to the court in granting leave to serve supplemental pleadings and imposing terms, even if the pleader had no cause of action at the time of the original pleading but has subsequently acquired and stated one in a supplemental pleading.
Subd (c) of this rule is based upon the Illinois practice (Ill Ann Stat c 110, § 46(3) (Smith-Hurd 1955)), and is intended to govern both amendment during trial, when proffered evidence is objected to, and amendment during or after trial in case of variance. The wrongdoing would allow amendment on any party’s motion or by the court, with appropriate power to prevent prejudice by surprise. The language makes it clear that such amendment must be by leave of court.
Subd (d) of this rule is based upon RCP 101. With respect to supplemental pleadings, this subdivision changed the New York case law which required a second motion for leave to answer.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308; renumbered Rule 3025, L 1962, ch 318, § 15, eff Sept 1, 1963; L 2011, ch 473, § 3, eff Jan 1, 2012.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
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