Complaint 1

• Author: Hillel H. Levin
• Pages: 56-64

56

Questions

1. Does the judge in this case see Twombly and Iqbal as having changed the

law? If so, how?

2. What does the judge identify as the positives and negatives of having

restrictive pleading rules, as opposed to permissive ones?

3. How does the judge propose to balance the interests at stake? Do you think

this is a good idea?

4. What do you think will happen at the Rule 12(i) hearing?

When you graduate from law school and pass the bar, you will be a lawyer. In

preparing for your career as a lawyer, it will be helpful if you have been introduced to

actual litigation documents from real cases. Peruse the following two complaints and

consider the following questions:

1. What is the crux of each lawsuit? Make sure you understand what the basic

facts and legal theories are.

2. Notice how the complaints comply with Rule 10(a) and (b).

3. Why are these complaints so long and detailed? Don’t they more than satisfy

both Notice Pleading and Plausibility Pleading standards? Having read Rule

8(a) and the cases, are you surprised by the length and detail of these

complaints?

4. Would you draft the complaints differently?

Complaint 1