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Verification and Usable Law

Standard mismatch

A posture mismatch in which authority decided under one legal test, such as the summary judgment test for a genuine dispute of material fact, is offered to establish or apply a different test, such as pleading-stage plausibility.

First used in Right Law, Wrong Stage

Dispositive motions ask different questions. A motion under Rule 12(b)(6) asks whether factual allegations, accepted as true, state a plausible claim. A motion for summary judgment asks whether the record shows a genuine dispute of material fact. A holding that answers one question does not answer the other.

A court that grants summary judgment because no reasonable jury could find causation has not held that causation was inadequately pleaded. The claim, after all, survived to summary judgment.

The first question of the pre-filing posture test addresses this kind directly: was the proposition decided under the standard the motion invokes, and if not, is it cited only for a rule that does not depend on that standard?

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