In a 2007 decision, Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly , and more forcefully in a 2009 decision, Ashcroft v. Iqbal , the U.S. Supreme Court heightened the standard for evaluating such pleadings. Although the extent of its impact has yet to be determined, the change appears to reduce the likelihood that plaintiffs' claims will survive the pleadings stage in federal courts, particularly in cases in which plaintiffs plan to rely on evidence discovered during litigation to bolster their claims. Bills pending in the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, the Open Access to Courts Act of 2009 ( H.R. 4115 ) and the Notice Pleading Restoration Act of 2009 ( S. 1504 ), aim to reverse the effects of the rulings. Thus, it seems probable that at least to some extent, the decisions will decrease the quantity of civil complaints which survive a motion to dismiss. A bill pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Notice Pleading Restoration Act of 2009 ( S. 1504 ), would prohibit the dismissal of a complaint for failure to state a claim "except under the standards set forth ... in Conley v. Gibson ."
In 2007 and 2009 decisions, Bell Atlantic Corporation v. Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, the U.S. Supreme Court heightened the standard governing whether a civil complaint filed in federal court will survive a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. After those rulings, it appears that federal courts must evaluate the "plausibility" of claims made at the pleading stage. Previously, complaints typically survived a motion to dismiss as long as they stated a claim for which some set of facts could be assembled to warrant legal relief. The change makes it less likely for plaintiffs' claims to survive past the initial pleadings stage, particularly in cases in which plaintiffs may need to rely on the discovery of evidence once litigation begins in order to bolster their claims. Bills pending in the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, the Open Access to Courts Act of 2009 (H.R. 4115) and the Notice Pleading Restoration Act of 2009 (S. 1504), aim to reverse the effects of the Twombly and Iqbal decisions.