On Tuesday, October 27, the House Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing entitled "Access to Justice Denied: Ashcroft v. Iqbal." This hearing comes after the recent introduction of Senator Specter's proposed bill that, at least in its initial form, calls for a reversion back to the Conley v. Gibson pleading standards.
The witnesses at tomorrow's hearing include NYU Law Professor Arthur Miller, Former Assistant Attorney General Gregory Katsas, John Vail of the Center for Constitutional Litigation, and Debo Adegbile of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Found. The prepared testimonies of Arthur Miller (click here) and John Vail (click here) highlight the limiting effect of the heightened Iqbal/Twombly pleading standards on plaintiffs' access to federal courts. This will be an important debate to monitor over the coming months as the legislature ponders whether it wishes to intervene in the discussion over what constitutes a sufficient complaint.
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