Third Circuit Holds Complaint Allegations Are Not Binding Judicial Admissions If Nullified By Amendment

On April 4, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which includes New Jersey, clarified the law on how an amended pleading affects judicial admissions made in an original pleading. Judicial admissions are formal concessions that are binding on a party that makes them in a judicial proceeding. Factual allegations made by litigants in their pleadings are binding judicial admissions on those litigants. In West Run Student Housing Associates, LLC v. Huntington National Bank, No. 12-2430, 2013 U.S. App. Lexis 6804 (3d Cir. Apr. 4, 2013), the Third Circuit held that factual allegations made in an original complaint are not binding judicial admissions where such allegations have been omitted from a subsequent amended complaint. Id. at *17-18. To the extent that an amended pleading does not repeat or incorporate factual allegations in the original pleading, the legal effect of an amended pleading is that it supersedes and nullifies the allegations made in the original