In Part I of this series, we discussed institutional bad faith and best practices for insurers to minimize the risk of these costly and intrusive lawsuits. In Part II, we will focus on cutting discovery off at the...more
On March 12, 2019, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued an Opinion in GEOMC Co. v. Calmare Therapeutics Inc., 918 F.3d 92, which clarifies the previously amorphous standard for pleading affirmative defenses. The...more
The Situation: Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 84, which permitted U.S. patent-infringement lawsuits to proceed on very general allegations, was withdrawn three years ago. Subsequent court decisions have considered how much...more
It has been a little more than half a year since the amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure abrogated Rule 84 and put an end to the Form 18 bare-bones style patent complaint. The question on the minds of many...more
A recent Fourth Circuit cases demonstrates the inherently subjective nature of the "plausibility" standard used to evaluate a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). This standard, first articulated by the Supreme Court in...more
On November 12, 2014, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit joined the First, Second, and Third Circuits in holding that a plaintiff cannot state a plausible claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) by merely...more
In Bell Atlantic Co. v. Twombly, the Supreme Court injected a “plausibility” standard into Rule 12(b)(6) for claims asserting an alleged antitrust conspiracy. Since then, lower courts, scholars, and practitioners have written...more