Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Prolix Pleading as “Novelette” — Good Quote

From Fezzani v. Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71943 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 23, 2008):

Plaintiffs filed their first Amended Complaint on April 7, 2005. It is not so much a pleading as it is a novelette, 113 pages long with 357 separately numbered paragraphs. It layers allegations of various kinds, involving different transactions, accusing multiple actors, performing different functions, of culpable behavior. It is far heavier on broad conclusions than it is on specific allegations of fraudulent behavior. The amended complaint is at the polar opposite of the "short and plain statement" of a claim for relief envisioned by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(1).

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