Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

I have a bad feeling that you may be getting a remand order back to state court, if you file a notice of removal. Whenever I see a notice of removal, I immediately think one of two things: either I am dealing with a sophisticated party, or I am dealing with someone who does not know what the hell they are doing.

If you are a resident of California, and were sued in state court in California, removal is not for you. 28 U.S.C. section 1441, subdivision (b) provides that none of the removing defendants be a citizen of the state in which the case was originally brought. There are also jurisdictional requirements, which may or may not be met in the lawsuit against you.

I suggest speaking to an attorney at length, as I cannot possibly provide you with all of the ins and outs of removal procedure and federal civil procedure in this forum. Federal court is very tricky and I see many self represented parties get thrown out on technicalities that would not have occurred if they had a competent attorney.

Mr. Roach is completely right. I would also ad that the federal courts do not recognize a right for a non-lawyer to represent themselves in civil cases. So you may well have your removal notice thrown out just for that. You need a lawyer.