God only knows how many times we’ve posted on the topic of removal before service, because we can’t count that high. We did take a look through our “removal” topic tag and figured out that our last post about this subject was back in May. Well, a reader recently sent us a new decision, so we’ve found an occasion to bring up this old saw again.

Briefly, for you newbies, what’s the big deal with removal before service? First, “removal” in this context refers to the process for getting cases out of state court (generally thought of – by both sides – as more plaintiff-friendly), and getting them into federal court (conversely considered more defense friendly).