Early Dismissal
Directors and Boards' Boardroom Briefing: The Legal Issue 2009
November 6, 2009
Leo Rydzewski - Washington
Litigation Partner Leo Rydzewski published an article titled "Early Dismissal" in the Directors and Boards' Boardroom Briefing: The Legal Issue 2009.
In the article, Mr. Rydzewski discusses how two recent Supreme Court decisions, Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, have significantly raised the factual threshold upon which a plaintiff's allegations must be based in order to gain access to the courts. Prompted by concerns over the increased costs of discovery, through these decisions the Court is taking additional steps to better ensure that a plaintiff has a viable case before proceeding to impose those costs upon others. Pragmatically, the rulings will mean that plaintiffs will need to draft longer complaints that provide factual details supporting each element of a cause of action. "With Twombly and Iqbal, the balance has shifted in favor of the defendant," writes Mr. Rydzewski.
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