Removal jurisdiction: who may remove a case to federal court?

• A. Plaintiff only
• B. Defendant only
• C. Either party
• D. The court must decide

Answer: (B)

Removal lets a case move from state court to federal court, but the option to trigger that move rests with the defendant. A defendant may file a notice of removal in the federal court when the case meets the federal jurisdictional requirements, giving the case a chance to be heard in federal court instead of state court. The plaintiff doesn’t have that prerogative to remove; if the case is in state court and there’s no basis for removal, it stays there unless a defendant chooses to remove.

Once a defendant files for removal, the federal court decides whether the removal is proper, but the initial action to remove comes from the defendant. If there are multiple defendants, they generally must cooperate in the removal.