Breaking News – Third Circuit Green Lights Pre-Service Removal

On August 17, 2018, we observed in our latest comprehensive post on pre-service removal, that "[w]ith Court of Appeals decisions now breaking in our favor, we can start trying to change the minds of district courts that have previously gone the other way."

And how.

On August 22 – less than a week after that post (and while Bexis was on vacation) – the Third Circuit came down strongly on the "plain meaning" side of the ledger in a removal-before-service case and flatly rejected the "absurd result" rationale that some district courts in that circuit had developed. See Encompass Insurance Co. v. Stone Mansion Restaurant, Inc., ___ F.3d ___, 2018 WL 3999885 (3d Cir. Aug. 22, 2018). The court first examined the purpose of the "forum defendant" exception to removability of diverse cases and Congress' amendment adding the "properly joined and served" language that supports pre-service removal: