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Article
In Search of Removal Jurisdiction
Northwestern University Law Review (2008)
  • Scott Dodson
Abstract

The ubiquitous and somewhat careless use of the term “jurisdictional” by courts has spawned confusion over what is and is not jurisdictional in a variety of contexts, including removal. The issue has critical implications for litigants. Yet it lacks scholarly coverage and is the subject of deep divisions in the lower courts. In this Article, I develop an initial framework for characterizing provisions of the removal statute as jurisdictional or procedural. I build upon the groundwork laid by prior precedent and modify it to account for the quasi-jurisdictional nature of removal and its impact on the federal-state balance of power. I then showcase the utility of the framework in a case study of one particularly nettlesome removal issue, the forum defendant rule. The case study demonstrates both why the lower courts’ approaches to resolving the issue have been misguided and how the framework can provide a more reasoned approach.

Keywords
  • jurisdiction,
  • removal jurisdiction,
  • removal,
  • forum defendant rule,
  • 1441(b)
Disciplines
Publication Date
January, 2008
Citation Information
Scott Dodson, In Search of Removal Jurisdiction, 102 Nw. U. L. Rev. 55 (2008)