Remand Standards
I know – why would anyone not want to be in federal court, right? But if you don’t want to be, here are some old school standards in an old school font.
I know – why would anyone not want to be in federal court, right? But if you don’t want to be, here are some old school standards in an old school font.
Our twins couldn’t escape Spider-Man. The defendant couldn’t escape state court in this unfair competition claim.
The most popular federal court topic for most practitioners, hands down, is how to get a case remanded to state court. This case lays out the standards.
In fairness, it was a joint request for remand based on insufficient $$$ in dispute, and the R&R wasn’t objected to, but still, a win’s a win.
Just in time to be able to skip tomorrow’s scheduling conference…
Did you know there was a Texas Business Opportunities Act? I did not know that. But here it is, one of the pleaded causes of action in a case brought by unhappy franchisees of a non-surgical weight loss business. Which brings up another thing I’d never heard of before – a Sculpt Pod. Oh sure, I saw it in Little Shop of Horrors but as a legit weight loss device?
All of which, of course, cannot help but generate a motion to remand this very interesting set of facts and causes of action to back to state court, with some interesting observations by the Court on when a claim arises under federal law.
Today’s B side is what most practitioners in federal court really want to know – how do I get out? This order granting a plaintiff’s motion to remand due to lack of timely written consent, but denying fees, provides an overview of the relevant standards for both.
Many years ago when I was asked to prepare my first federal update paper, I called my federal courts professor from law school and asked him what people want to hear in a federal update. He didn’t hesitate. “Removal and remand.” Why? “Most lawyers don’t know anything about federal court and don’t want to be there. The thing they want to know is how to get out.” So it’s always good to keep a few recent decisions on motions to remand handy, in case you fall into that category. This recent opinion by Judge Mazzant fits the bill nicely, as it addresses a requirement few think about.
I wrote recently on the surprising interest many lawyers have in removal and remand issues, and wanted to add to the database a recent order from Judge Mazzant in Sherman providing his take on removal caselaw.
I had an old law school professor tell me once that the number one thing most lawyers wanted to know about federal court was how to get out, and thus if I really wanted to make friends I should focus on removal and remand in my “federal update” papers. I then had an even older partner once tell me that it’s a fool’s errand to try to persuade a judge that they made a mistake.
Thus a case in which a party not only succeeded in getting out of federal court via a successful remand, but by way of convincing a court that its prior order denying remand was erroneous would be of interest, no? Well, that’s what we have in this case arising out of a fatal Florida auto accident