Amici curiae are scholars with expertise in civil procedure who have an interest in the proper interpretation of federal pleading standards following Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009). Amici file this brief because the decision by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in this case cannot be squared with proper pleading doctrine and goes far beyond any reasonable interpretation of this Court’s holdings in Twombly and Iqbal. Certiorari is warranted to correct the Ninth Circuit’s application of these cases and to clarify the rampant confusion that has emerged in the lower courts in the wake of Twombly and Iqbal.