In a dispute involving the removal of a class action, district court judgment finding removal improper is reversed where: 1) plaintiff had no reasonable basis to believe that defendant JEVIC was amenable to suit, and thus defendant was a fraudulently joined party and its status as a defendant could not be used to defeat otherwise proper federal jurisdiction; and 2) the court erred in remanding the case to state court as defendant was not properly before the district court since it was never served with legal process.
Read Brown v. JEVIC, No. 08-4789
Appellate Information
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Argued March 6, 2009
Filed July 31, 2009
Judges
Before: SLOVITER and HARDIMAN, Circuit Judges and POLLAK, District Judge
Opinion by HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge.
Counsel
For Appellant: Christopher Landau, Scott M. Abeles, Gary D. Anderson, Kirkland & Ellis, Marlton, NJ.
For Appellee: Robert F. O'Brien, O'Brien, Belland & Bushinsky, Cherry Hill, NJ.
