2010 Freedom and Justice Legal Writing Competition

Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) is pleased to announce its 2010 Freedom and Justice Legal Writing Competition. Essays are due one August, 27. Students are asked to respond to the following prompt:

“How have recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on civil lawsuit pleading standards impacted litigation, and what are the potential implications of congressional efforts to repeal those judicial decisions?”

In Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. 1937, 1950 (2009) and Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 127 S. Ct. 1955 (2007), the U.S. Supreme Court issued rulings which clarified its interpretation of the standards of particularity that plaintiffs must meet when crafting civil litigation complaints. Federal legislation, such as The Notice Pleading Restoration Act of 2009, S.1504, is being considered to overturn these decisions. Explain the Court's rulings in the two cases; assess case analysis of lower court decisions to see what impact the rulings have had, and examine the effect the repeal of Iqbal and Twombly would have on the civil litigation environment.

Contest rules and submission procedures can be found at: http://www.wlf.org/Publishing/writing_contest.asp