Civ Pro II
1.
Pleading  a paper complaint containing factual assertions (allegations) that support jx and legal claims in
a civil suit
a. s first pleading = complaint
i. States grounds for SMJ – rule 8(a)(1)
ii. Short/plain statement of s claim showing  entitled to relief – Rule 8(a)(2)
1. Primary function of pleading = notice
iii. Demand for relief – Rule 8(a)(3)
1.  entitled to relief only if the substantive law would make the  liable on the
facts alleged complaint
b. s first pleading = answer
i. Responds to factual allegations of complaint
ii. Asserts defenses
iii. Sometimes claims by 
1. Counterclaim
2. Crossclaim
iv. Rule 12(b)(6) – Motion to Dismiss
1.  can file motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim
a. Can be filed prior to  answering s complaint
v. MTD + affidavit = Motion Summary Judgement – Rule 56
c. Pleading does not equal legal conclusion
i. Pleading = what occurred, when, where, who did what, rltp
d. FRCP Rule 10(b): “Form of Pleadings”
i. Requires numbered paragraphs, each limited as far as possible to a single set of
circumstances…urges that each claim should be stated in a separate count when doing
so would promote clarity
ii. Pleadings must be construed so as to do justice
e. FRCP Rule 7 – Pleadings Defined
f. FRCP Rule 8 – General Rules of Pleading
g. FRCP Rule 9 – Pleading Special Matters
i. Heightened pleading – pleading w/ particularity
1. Allegations of fraud and mistake
a. “a party must state w particularity the circumstances constituting
fraud or mistake
ii. Expression unius est exclusion alterus = the express mention of one thing excludes all
others
h. Dioguardi
i. Rule (Conley Standard )= complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim
unless it appears beyond doubt that the  can prove no set of facts in support of his
claim which would entitle him to relief – “notice pleading”
i. Doe v. Smith
i. In fed ct a s complaint will be sufficient as long as it states a claim for relief and will not
be deemed insufficient if every single element of a COA is not specifically asserted in the
complaint
j. Ashcroft v. Iqbal
i. Rltp b/w pleading and discovery
ii. Facts required in complaint
1. Good faith effort to establish claim
k. Twombly/Iqbal Standard – Plausible Pleading Standard
i. Not only specifies that a complaint must be plausible on its face, but it must bring forth
sufficient factual allegations that nudge a claim across the line from conceivable to
plausible
1.
2.
A complaint must not simply allege facts that are merely possible, but the
alleged facts must be reasonable and likely to occur
A complaint will not be dismissed unless it appears beyond a doubt that the 
can prove no set of facts in support of the claim