If a defendant removes an action from state court to this Court, but then raises lack of subject-matter jurisdiction or lack of Article III standing, this Court may summarily remand the action back to state court.

On removal, the defendants have the burden of establishing federal jurisdiction. The Court will not permit a defendant to simultaneously assert and challenge the Court’s jurisdiction. This behavior wastes the parties’ time and money and consumes scarce judicial resources that could be spent elsewhere.  Moreover, the Court does not believe this litigation strategy complies with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 1 and 11(b) and the Rules of Professional Conduct, among other things.

Defendants are on notice that the Court may summarily remand. If the defendants waste the Court’s judicial resources by opposing remand, the Court will require the defendants’ counsel (not the client) to pay reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) and the Court will sanction defendants’ counsel (not the client) an amount equal to one hour of the Court’s time.  That sanction will be paid to the Clerk of Court.  The Court will also order the defendants’ counsel to provide a copy of the order to the client, so that the client can address with counsel the payment of attorneys’ fees for removing a case to federal court, only to ask that it be sent back to state court.

In any action removed to this Court, within 7 business days, defense counsel must also file a certification that they have read this standing order. In addition, the defendant must file a disclosure of the state(s) of its citizenship, which Fed. R. Civ. P. Rule 7.1(a)(2) requires be filed at the time of removal.