Wisconsin Adopts Twombly, Though 'No One Is Sure What Twombly Means'

In Data Key Partners v. Permira Advisers LLC, 2014 WI 86, the Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted the "plausibility" pleading standard articulated by the United States Supreme Court in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), which overruled the Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 (1957), "beyond doubt"/"no set of facts" standard. Now, in order to survive a motion to dismiss in Wisconsin courts, a pleading will need to "plausibly" state a claim.

This decision was not Wisconsin's first departure from Conley's pleading standard. The Wisconsin...