Specifically, a factual basis for the claim must be established by the complaint. The complaint must do much more than this. The pleading is insufficient because all it does is, in court parlance, “merely recite bare legal conclusions.” In spite of these lax requirements, however, the above pleading example would be insufficient to defeat a 12(b)(6) motion. These injuries were the result of defendant’s breach of dutyĪs mentioned earlier, Rule 12(b)(6) motions are rarely successful, in no small part because pleading requirements are generally quite liberal.Defendant owed to plaintiff a duty of care.The plaintiff would have to allege all of the elements of negligence and apply them to the defendant, such as the following: In that complaint, the plaintiff must allege all of the elements of negligence, and the elements must be applied to the defendant or defendants.įor example, in the above negligence lawsuit, let’s say that the defendant hit the plaintiff with his car. Here’s what I mean by this: Suppose someone files a complaint for negligence. “Failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted” can mean a number of things, all of which have to do with what is stated in a complaint.įirst, and most typically, this means that the complaint failed to properly allege one or more of the required elements of an action. Nevertheless, they appear regularly in law school civil procedure exams (and bar exam civil procedure questions), so it’s important to be aware of them. Today, we’ll be covering one of the most important topics in the subject: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 12(b)(6).įRCP Rule 12(b) pertains to pretrial motions, and 12(b)(6) specifically deals with motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.Īs a practical matter, Rule 12(b)(6) motions are rarely successful, and when they are, their success usually has more to do with the judge than the law.
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