June 21, 2010
STATE BAR ASSOCIATION RECOMMENDS NEW PLEADING
STANDARD IN FEDERAL LITIGATION CASES
In response to the uncertainty created by the United States Supreme
Court’s recent Twombly and Iqbal decisions, and pending
legislation in the United States Senate and House of Representatives,
the New York State Bar Association has recommended the establishment of
a new pleading standard covering actions brought in federal court that
would provide enhanced notification with respect to claims against
defendants and also would require the plaintiff to provide more
information regarding the basis for the relief being sought. The new
standard, authored by the State Bar’s Special Committee on
Standards for Pleading in Federal Litigation, chaired by Samuel F.
Abernethy, Esq. of New York (Menaker & Herrmann LLP), was approved
at the State Bar’s House of Delegates meeting in Cooperstown on
June 19.
The committee concluded that the current language of Rule 8(a)(2) of
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requiring a pleading that states a
claim for relief to contain “a short and plain statement of the
claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,” should be
amended to read “a short and plain non-conclusory statement of
grounds sufficient to provide notice of (a) the claim and (b) the relief
sought.” The committee also recommended that the promulgation of
such a standard be accomplished through the process of review and
consideration under the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and
Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States.
“The primary function of a pleading is to provide adequate
notice of a plaintiff’s claim to the defendant and to explain the
grounds on which that claim was brought into court. Motion to dismiss
should not result in the dismissal of meritorious cases before discovery
has been taken,” said State Bar President Stephen P. Younger of
New York (Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP). “Our proposed
new pleading standard will offer protection for defendants while at the
same time allowing plaintiffs the opportunity to plead sufficient and
relevant factual allegations in their cases. I want to thank Samuel
Abernethy and the members of the special committee for their thoughtful
and timely analysis on these issues and for proposing this important
standard that will help to clarify pleading in federal court
litigations.”
The special committee was formed in response to two recent United
States Supreme Court decisions centering on the issues of pleading in
federal litigation actions: Ashcroft v. Iqbal and Bell Atl. Corp. v.
Twombly.
To view a copy of the special committee’s report, please visit
www.nysba.org/FederalPleadingStandards.
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The 77,000-member New York State Bar Association is the official
statewide organization of lawyers in New York and the largest voluntary
state bar association in the nation. Founded in 1876, NYSBA
programs and activities have continuously served the public and improved
the justice system for more than 130 years. www.nysba.org
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