claim for relief

A claim for relief is a particular set of facts that one party puts forth in a pleading in court to establish that they have a right to recover against a defendant . Stating a claim for relief is a synonym for stating a cause of action .

Attempting to file a lawsuit in which no claim for relief is present will result in the dismissal of that lawsuit under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. As established in Ashcroft v. Iqbal and Bell Atlantic v. Twombly , a claim for relief must be plausible on its face and establish more than the mere possibility that the defendant is liable to survive a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss .

Furthermore, a claim for relief must be stated at the pleading state of litigation . A party cannot utilize the tools of discovery until a claim for relief which survives a 12(b)(6) motion is established.

See e.g.; White v. Baca, CV 13-03401 JFW (SSx) (C.D. Cal. Apr. 25, 2014)

[Last reviewed in August of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

Keywords

labor and employment law

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