Bankruptcy practitioners should be aware of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. 1937, (2009), which confirmed a new, more subjective standard for evaluating whether a complaint complies with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2). That Rule, which applies to adversary proceedings pursuant to Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 7008(a)(2), states that a pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Since 1957, motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim have been assessed under Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, in which the Supreme Court held that “a complaint should not be dismissed unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.”
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