In the recently enacted Federal Courts Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act of 2011 (JVCA), Congress made important revisions to the removal, jurisdiction and venue provisions in Title 28 of the U.S. Code that apply to any action commenced on or after Jan. 6, 2012.1 Several of the most prominent amendments concern the procedures for removal of actions to federal court. Most notably, the amendments resolve a circuit split concerning the timing for removal in multi-defendant lawsuits, and allow some flexibility in removing an action based on diversity jurisdiction when the amount in controversy is not plainly stated in the state court complaint.

The revisions had been under consideration since at least 2006. In enacting the JVCA, Congress was responding to critical commentary from academics and advocacy groups and to the expressed views of judges that the prior rules “force[d] them to waste time determining jurisdictional issues at the expense of adjudicating underlying litigation.”2

‘Last-Served’ Rule

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]