Monday's antitrust ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court makes it easier for courts to toss out cases at the pleading stage. Litigators know that, under federal "notice pleading" standards, a complaint need not include an extensive recital of facts; a pleading that simply puts defendant on notice of the nature of the claims is sufficient. Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly appears to impose a different standard for pleading a Sherman Act Section 1 combination in restraint of trade. It states that plaintiff must plead enough facts to plausibly suggest an actual unlawful agreement between the defendants. Such a standard is necessary, according to Justice Souter, to avoid expensive discovery on a claim that lacks merit.
Like the Weyerhaeuser case decided earlier this term, Twombly makes the road that much rougher for antitrust plaintiffs.
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