Rule Eleven and a Half


I have a new favorite phrase. A legal theory is an “eleven and a half” when it isn’t good enough to survive a Rule 12 motion to dismiss but isn’t so harebrained that it could result in Rule 11 sanctions for the attorney bringing it.

Sample usage: “The contract claim might be going somewhere, but the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim is a real eleven-and-a-half.”