Congress questions pleading decisions: Lawmakers, witnesses discuss impact of 'Iqbal', 'Twombly' rulings

House lawmakers held a hearing Tuesday on the impact on the judicial system of two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that toughened federal civil pleading standards.

A bill that would reverse those decisions is already pending in the Senate. House lawmakers are preparing to file their own version of legislation that would reverse the rulings in Ashcroft v. Iqbal and Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly.

In those cases, the Court rejected the "notice pleading" standard in favor of a standard requiring plaintiffs to put enough facts in a complaint to establish a "plausible" claim in order to withstand a challenge by the defense.

The House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties heard testimony from legal experts Tuesday. The House bill, expected to be introduced soon by Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr., D-Mich., and Reps. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Hank Johnson, D-Ga., would be a companion to the Senate version introduced by Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., in July.