For more than a decade, our firm has been a sponsor of the American Association for Justice at the highest level. As a Leaders Forum member we are proud to partner with the AAJ in its efforts to preserve the nation’s constitutional right to trial by jury.
That is why the statement from AAJ CEO Linda Lipsen regarding a recent hearing the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Courts was worthy of passing along to visitors to our own site. This hearing addressed “snap removal,” the quick removal by a resident corporate defendant to a federal court before being served with a complaint.
“AAJ applauds the Judiciary Committee for holding the first congressional hearing on the issue of ‘snap removal,’ which clogs federal courts with state cases. Snap removal defies the Forum Defendant Rule of 1948, which mandates that state courts have jurisdiction over cases of corporate defendants headquartered or incorporated in their own state.
“Corporate defendants are going to extreme lengths to preserve snap removal as a tool to avoid accountability, including fleeing in the opposite direction when they see complaints about to be served. And instances of this tactic continue to skyrocket, delaying justice for victims and creating an imbalance between injured parties and corporations.
“Congress should not allow snap removal to further burden federal courts at a time when they are already strapped for time and resources, particularly when state courts are the proper court of jurisdiction and most capable of hearing state law claims – as they have been doing since this country’s foundation. We urge Congress to take swift action and protect states’ rights.”
We have written before about how there are corporate interests that are out to limit citizens’ access to the courtrooms. This is another example of how AAJ is working to make sure people have a fair chance to receive justice through the legal system, especially when they are injured by the negligence or misconduct of others. Their courage to take on the globe’s most powerful corporations is admirable, and you can gain more information about this issue by visiting them at http://www.justice.org.
