Minnesota Supreme Court Refuses to Apply Iqbal, Twombly Standard to State Pleadings

The plausibility standard adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court for pleadings filed under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure won’t be engrafted onto Minnesota’s identical pleading rule, the Minnesota Supreme Court made clear Aug. 8 (Walsh v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 2014 BL 217780, Minn., No. A13-0742).

The opinion by Justice David L. Lillehaug said that the federal standard, which was outlined in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009), is inconsistent with the purpose, history and procedural context of Minn. R. Civ. P. 8.01.

Professor A. Benjamin Spencer, who ...