Has Practice in Federal Court Gotten Even Harder?

This from Drug and Device Law's On Iqbal And Twombly indicates that we will now face a higher standard in pleading a Complaint in federal court.

Iqbal v. Ashcroft, __. U.S. __ (May 18, 2009) (here's a link to the decision through the Supreme Court website), came down last Monday, holding that the more rigorous pleading standards set forth in Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), apply to all civil actions.

And then the implications: "Two working principles underlie our decision in Twombly. First, the tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions. Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice." Id. at 14. "Second, only a complaint that states a plausible claim for relief survives a motion to dismiss." Id. at 14-15.

I suggest reading all of the original post as it has a wide range of opinions on the case. My own opinion remains what I have thought long of the federal courts: they want as little business as possible.