Judge Mariani Remands Another Case Back to State Court

Making a U-Turn Back to State Court

In the case of Blizman v. Travelers Home and Marine Ins. Co., No. 3:21-CV-1546-RDM (M.D. Pa. Dec. 9, 2021 Mariani, J.), the court granted a Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand a breach of contract and bad faith claim back to the state court.

According to the Opinion, the Plaintiff filed a Writ and served it upon the carrier.

Thereafter, the defense attorney entered his appearance on behalf of the carrier.

The Complaint was then filed and sent to the defense lawyer. The Complaint was mailed to the insurance company.

Judge Mariani found that the Complaint had been served and that the timeline for removal was triggered on the date that the defense lawyer was served since the Writ was previously properly served and the defense attorney had previously entered his appearance.

In so ruling, the court reviewed the removal procedure set forth under 28 U.S.C. §1446 and noted that the removal statutes are required to be strictly construed with all doubts to be resolved in favor of a remand where appropriate.

Applying that law to the case before him, Judge Mariani ruled that the case should be remanded.

Anyone wishing to read this decision may click this LINK. The Court's companion Order can be viewed HERE.

Source of image: Photo by Patrick Doyle on Unsplash.