Twiqbal is a colloquial term in American law (civil procedure), referring to two separate US Supreme Court cases that heightened the pleading standard under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Together, these cases made it more difficult to sue in federal court by requiring that plaintiffs demonstrate that their claims are "plausible", rather than simply describing the case in sufficient detail to put the defendant on notice.
The two cases are Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007) and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009), and "Twiqbal" is a portmanteau of Twombly and Iqbal. Because the two cases together have wrought a significant change in American civil procedure, the cases together, and the principle for which the cases stand, have both become commonly referred to as Twiqbal.[1] [2]
The Supreme Court's 2009 Iqbal case elaborated the heightened standard of pleading it established two years previously in Twombly, and established that it was generally applicable in all federal civil litigation and not limited to antitrust law:
The effect of these two decisions has been described as "incredibly consequential" and "controversial". After Iqbal was decided, expanding Twomblys reach beyond antitrust law, legislation was introduced to reverse the cases and re-introduce "notice pleading";[3] neither bill passed.