Establishment Of New Precedent Does Not Start 30-Day Clock For Removal

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b), a case that was not removable when originally filed may still be removed if the defendants receive an “amended pleading, motion or other paper from which it may first be ascertained that the case is one which is or has become removable.” The defendants may file a notice of removal within 30 days of receiving that indication that the case is now removable. Typically such an indication is the filing by one of the parties of an amended pleading or other paper that raises a federal question.

However, in Dahl v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 478 F.3d 965 (8th Cir. Feb. 28, 2007), defendants argued that the publication of a new precedent in the Eighth Circuit establishing that cases like the one in Dahl were removable started a new 30-day clock under § 1446(b). The Eighth Circuit rejected that argument, holding that the receipt of an opinion from a different case did not constitute an “amended pleading, motion or other paper” for purposes of the removal statutes.