It was one of our biggest issues in the blog’s first couple of years – whether a defendant’s removal of a case before service on: ( 1) the forum defendant where an out-of-state defendant is sued in its own state’s court, or (2) anybody (including the removing defendant), would result in the unserved forum defendant not counting for removal/remand purposes. Application of plain statutory language meant that, in products cases where defendants had the bad fortune of residing in a jurisdiction considered pro-plaintiff, out-of-state plaintiffs could not keep sharp-eyed defendants from defeating the forum defendant rule by removing as soon as they learned of an action.
Please see full publication below for more information.