Ashcroft v. Iqbal

Holding that a claim is plausible where a plaintiff's allegations enable the court to draw a "reasonable inference" the defendant is liable

Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly

Holding that a complaint's allegations should "contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to 'state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face' "

Moss v. U.S. Secret Service

Holding that the court lacked jurisdiction over the district court's deferral of the summary judgment motion

Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dept

Holding that a cognizable gender discrimination claim could be brought by a female domestic violence victim where the victim alleged police denied protection and made misogynistic comments including that "he did not blame [the victim's] husband for hitting her, because of the way she was 'carrying on'"

Navarro v. Block

Holding that dismissal is proper where there is "an absence of sufficient facts alleged to support a cognizable legal theory"

Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co.

Concluding that the gathering and dissemination of pricing information by the petroleum companies through an independent industry service did not imply collusive action where there was no evidence the information was misused as a basis for an unlawful conspiracy; rather, evidence suggested that individual companies used all available resources “to determine capacity, supply, and pricing decisions which would maximize their own individual profits”

Vess v. Ciba-Geigy Corp. USA

Holding that the Rule 9(b) pleading standards apply to California CLRA, FAL, and UCL claims because, though fraud is not an essential element of those statutes, a plaintiff alleges a fraudulent course of conduct as the basis of those claims

Lazar v. Superior Court

Holding that justifiable reliance is a required element of a fraud claim

Schreiber Distributing v. Serv-Well Furniture

Holding that Rule 9(b) requires the plaintiff to "state with particularity" the "circumstances constituting the fraud," including a statement of "the time, place, and specific content of the false representations as well as the identities of the parties to the misrepresentation."

Quelimane Co. v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co.

Holding that title insurer owed no duty of ordinary care to non-clients, commenting that "[i]n the business arena it would be unprecedented to impose a duty on one actor to operate its business in a manner that would ensure the financial success of transactions between third parties"

Rule 12 - Defenses and Objections: When and How Presented; Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings; Consolidating Motions; Waiving Defenses; Pretrial Hearing

Granting the court discretion to exclude matters outside the pleadings presented to the court in defense of a motion to dismiss

Rule 9 - Pleading Special Matters

Permitting "[m]alice, intent, knowledge, and other conditions of a person's mind [to] be alleged generally"

Rule 201 - Judicial Notice of Adjudicative Facts

Holding "[n]ormally, in deciding a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, courts must limit their inquiry to the facts stated in the complaint and the documents either attached to or incorporated in the complaint. However, courts may also consider matters of which they may take judicial notice."

Section 2702 - Elements of liability

Excluding certain oil spills from OPA liability

Section 3493 - Action maintained by private person

Permitting a private person to bring an action for public nuisance "if it is specially injurious to himself"

Section 8670.56.5 - Liability of responsible party