NGE Insurance Policyholder associate Nick Graber details the “forum defendant” rule, which prevents lawsuits from being removed from state to federal court where a defendant who is a resident of the forum (a “forum defendant”) has been “properly joined and served.”
While some courts previously treated the forum defendant rule as a complete bar to removal in cases involving forum defendants, the majority of courts now recognize that the rule is non-jurisdictional and therefore allow “snap removal.”
