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114 Penn Statim 1 (2010)

handle is hein.journals/statim114 and id is 1 raw text is: Law, Facts, and Power Elizabeth Thornburg* There is no logical distinction between statements which are grouped by the courts under the phrases statements of fact and conclusions of law. - Walter Wheeler Cook (1921) [A] court considering a motion to dismiss can choose to begin by identifying pleadings that, because they are no more than conclusions, are not entitled to the assumption of truth. While legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they must be supported by factual allegations. - Justice Anthony Kennedy (2009). I. INTRODUCTION In May of 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Ashcroft v. Iqbal.i In the context of a claim arising out of detentions of Arab Muslim men in the immediate aftermath of the September 1 1th attacks, the Court announced sweeping changes in its interpretation of the rules governing pleadings. Without actually amending the rules, without the advice of * Elizabeth Thornburg is a Professor of Law at the SMU Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Texas. She teaches and writes in the area of civil procedure and alternative dispute resolution. Drawing on her experience with civil rights and commercial litigation, her scholarship focuses on the procedural fairness of the litigation process, especially at the pleadings, discovery, and jury charge stages. She also writes and speaks in the areas of comparative procedure, online dispute resolution, and the intersection of law and culture. 1. 129 S. Ct. 1937 (2009). 2. Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), began the process but Iqbal confirmed that the Court's changes are generally applicable and reduced a vaguer plausibility test into a two-jump hurdle that all plaintiffs must clear.

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