In an opinion that addresses a variety of Title VII claims, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals offered the following comments about the impact that “shotgun pleadings” have on the federal courts:
[T]he mischief shotgun pleadings causes undermines the public’s respect for the courts – the ability of the courts to process efficiently, economically, and fairly the business placed before them. At an increasing rate, civil litigants are avoiding the federal district courts; they go elsewhere, to other fora, for the resolution of their disputes, especially complicated commercial disputes. The federal courts’ civil caseloads reflect this. . . . This has a negative effect on the development of the rule of law in the federal courts. When issues that ought to be presented to the courts for clarification, and to stabilize the rule of law, are removed to non-judicial fora for resolution, the public bears the cost . . .
Davis et al. v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co., No. 05-12998 (11th Cir. Feb. 6, 2008). The Court recognized that “shotgun pleadings” are “fueled in no small part by the lawyers’ fear that if they do not include everything but the kitchen sink in their pleadings, they may be sued for malpractice.” Id., n. 69.
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