Rational Pleading in the Modern World of Civil Litigation: The Lessons and Public Policy Benefits of Twombly and Iqbal‪.‬

INTRODUCTION The past few years have introduced some exciting, indeed revolutionary, changes to the world of pleading. (1) In what is traditionally a static topic of civil procedure, often viewed as an afterthought by all but first year law students, federal pleading requirements have received a modern-day makeover by the United States Supreme Court in two key decisions, Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly (2) and Ashcroft v. Iqbal. (3) With these rulings, the Court signaled a decisive break from the broad "notice pleading" standard (4) that evolved out of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and became absorbed into many states' analogous pleading rules. (5) In its place, the Court has ushered in the era of so-called "plausibility pleading," (6) which represents a more exacting standard, yet one that has resulted in significant confusion as lower courts attempt to decipher its meaning and impact. (7)