Category: Federal Question Jurisdiction

Maybe On Second Thought Don’t Remove That Case To Federal Court


Anyone who has practiced litigation law for more than ten years will run into this situation. Your client has been sued in state court. After your first court appearance, you get a bad feeling that things are not going to go well in that case. You get a great idea – “Hey we can remove this case to federal court!” There are a few pitfalls with that great idea and the case captioned Jackson County Bank v. Mathew R. DuSablon, (7th Circuit. 2/6/19) could be a refresher course in bad removal.

The Jackson County Bank sued its former employee, DuSablon, in Indiana state court. After his motion to dismiss was denied, DuSablon tried to remove the case to federal court.

The way removal works is that you file a petition to remove the case. If the federal judge believes that there is jurisdiction, you are ok. If she decides there is no jurisdiction, you can end up paying the legal fees of your opponent.

In the DuSablon case, the district judge remanded the case to state court for want of jurisdiction and untimely removal and ordered DuSablon to pay costs and fees for wrongful removal. In this case, the bill amounted to $9,035.61 under 28 U.S.C. §1447(c).

DuSablon then appealed to the Seventh Circuit. Unfortunately for him, remand orders cannot be appealed. The court did hear the appeal of the sanctions award.  Because there were only state law claims raised in the case, there was no basis to remove the case. There was “no federal question.” Removal was untimely as well. The district judge viewed the removal petition as a litigation stunt to delay the resolution of the state case.

The Seventh Circuit held that “the district court did not abuse its discretion in determining that DuSable lacked an objectively reasonable basis to remove the case to federal court.” Alas, the court also allowed the Bank to file a fee petition for its fees on appeal.

In conclusion, “Ouch.”

Ed Clinton, Jr.

The Clinton Law Firm, LLC

Defend Trade Secrets Act – Wikipedia


The Defend Trade Secrets Act, 18 USC § 1836, was enacted in 2016. It is important because it provides federal jurisdiction for disputes over trade secrets. This allows the plaintiff (usually a company claiming that its trade secrets were stolen by the defendant) to bring its claims in federal court.

The elements for a successful claim under the DTSA are:  (1) the existence of a trade secret that relates to a product or service used in, or intended for use in, interstate or foreign commerce; (2) the acquisition of the trade secret, or the use or disclosure of the trade secret without consent; and (3) the person acquiring, using, or disclosing the trade secret knew or had reason to know that the trade secret was acquired by improper means.” Arctic Energy Servs., LLC v. Neal, No. 18-cv-00108-PAB-KLM, 2018 WL 1010939, at *2 (D. Colo. Feb. 22, 2018) (citing 18 U.S.C. §1836(b)(1); 18 U.S.C. § 1839. The DTSA defines “trade secret” broadly to include “all forms and types of financial, business, scientific, technical, economic, or engineering information” so long as “the owner thereof has taken reasonable measures to keep such information secret” and “the information derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to,” or ascertainable by, another person. 18 U.S.C. § 1839(3). See Lowenbro Inspection v. Sommerfield, 18 CV 01943 (D. Colo. August 2018).

via Defend Trade Secrets Act – Wikipedia