An Alexandria U.S. District Court judge says the heightened pleading standard under Twombly and Iqbal does not apply to affirmative defenses. Last year, magistrate judges in both the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia said the standard – which requires ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Procedure Twiqbal

Breaking with other Virginia federal judges, Roanoke U.S. District Judge Samuel G. Wilson has ruled the stricter “plausibility” standard used to judge civil complaints does not apply to affirmative defenses. The heightened civil pleading standard derives from two U.S. Supreme ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Federal Courts Judge Samuel G. Wilson Twiqbal

Breaking with other Virginia federal judges who have considered the issue, Roanoke U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson has decided the stricter “plausibility” standard used to judge civil complaints does not apply to affirmative defenses. The ruling may be cold comfort ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Contract Twiqbal

Metropolitan Richmond area judges came up with a wish list for motions practice at the area bar associations’ annual bench-bar conference in Richmond on Oct. 21. Chesterfield General District Court Judge Pamela O’Berry sounded a little wistful when she said ...

Tagged with: Federal Courts Judge Catherine Hammond Judge Robert E. Payne Twiqbal

If plaintiff’s attorneys have to be more specific in their federal complaints, defense attorneys have a duty to be just as precise in their answers. Virginia federal courts are starting to weigh in on an issue that is splitting the ...

Tagged with: Federal Courts Twiqbal U.S. Supreme Court

We have reported on how the new ‘Twiqbal’ standard has raised the bar for pleading a federal complaint. The latest word on appellate review of the heightened pleading standard finds the 4th Circuit agreeing with Alexandria U.S. District Judge Gerald ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Defamation Intellectual Property Twiqbal

U.S. District Judge Glen Conrad has denied motions to dismiss excessive force and conspiracy claims filed by a former jail inmate who claims he was injured by guards at the Roanoke jail. Relying on the touchstone cases of Twombly and ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Twiqbal

Civil defense attorneys long have viewed removing cases to Virginia federal courts as a way to get complaints disposed of quickly – and out of the hands of jurors. That was largely because federal procedural rules favor handling cases on ...

Tagged with: Twiqbal U.S. Supreme Court