Civil Procedure

Twombly and Iqbal: How the Supreme Court Changed Federal Pleading Standards Introduction Two Supreme Court decisions transformed the way federal courts evaluate civil complaints: Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, decided in 2007, and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, decided in 2009. Together, these cases established what is commonly called the plausibility pleading Read more

Notice Pleading and Plausibility Pleading Notice pleading and plausibility pleading describe two important stages in the development of modern American civil procedure. Both approaches concern the amount and type of factual information a plaintiff must provide when initiating a civil lawsuit, but they reflect different understandings of what a complaint Read more

Pleading Standards Pleading standards determine what a party must allege in a civil lawsuit and how much factual and legal detail must appear in a pleading before the case can proceed. In federal civil litigation, the principal framework comes from the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, particularly Rules 8, 9, Read more

The Complaint A complaint is the pleading through which a plaintiff formally states a civil claim against a defendant and asks a court to provide a legal remedy. In a federal civil action, the complaint is ordinarily the document that identifies the parties, establishes the asserted basis for the court’s Read more

How a Civil Lawsuit Begins A civil lawsuit begins when a plaintiff formally invokes the authority of a court to resolve a legal dispute. In federal court, the ordinary civil action is commenced by filing a complaint with the court. The complaint identifies the parties, states the basis for the Read more

The Erie Doctrine The Erie Doctrine is the body of federal law governing when a federal court must apply state law rather than federal law to a legal issue. Its central principle is that when a federal court hears a claim arising under state law—particularly in a diversity case—the court Read more

Forum Non Conveniens Forum non conveniens is a judicial doctrine that allows a court with jurisdiction over a dispute to decline to hear the case when another available and adequate forum would be substantially more appropriate and convenient for resolving it. Unlike a transfer of venue within the federal court Read more

Transfer of Venue Transfer of venue is the process by which a civil case is moved from one federal district or division to another federal district or division. Unlike removal, which moves a case from state court to federal court, transfer of venue generally operates within the federal court system. Read more

Removal and Remand Removal and remand are two closely connected doctrines governing the movement of civil cases between state and federal courts. Removal allows a defendant in a qualifying state-court action to transfer the case to a federal district court. Remand is the process by which the federal court sends Read more