RATIONAL PLEADING IN THE MODERN WORLD OF CIVIL LITIGATION: THE LESSONS AND PUBLIC POLICY BENEFITS OF TWOMBL Y AND IQBAL

[...] Part III analyzes the public policy implications of these principles and of greater judicial review of pleadings in general, and responds to arguments of proponents of broad notice pleading. [...] courts during this period applied a rigid, highly technical review of pleadings for compliance with common law rules and, where established, civil codes.16 In many instances, these procedural systems were designed not simply to control the level and types of cases heard, but as a mechanism to keep litigants out of the courtroom.17 Legal history is stained with examples of such allegiance to formalism effectively providing a trap for the unwary and disenfranchised.18 Over time, these legal hurdles stood increasingly at odds with Americans' expanding personal liberties and notions of equal justice, thereby fermenting an environment conducive to a fundamental overhaul of the existing pleading system. 1.\n If states adopted the standard, they would add to these benefits greater uniformity in the interpretation of procedural law, preventing disparities among neighboring jurisdictions, confusion, and unfair surprise for litigants.