LCBF obtains ninth circuit reversal of remand

Ruling on several important issues of federal civil procedure, the court in Mendoza v. Federal National Mortgage Ass'n held that (1) it had subject matter jurisdiction to review a sua sponte remand order because the remand was not based upon a lack of subject matter jurisdiction; (2) the district court had no authority to remand a case more than 30 days after removal if the remand was not based upon a lack of subject matter jurisdiction; (3) Freddie Mac had not waived its right to remove by filing an unlawful detainer action in state court with regard to the same property at issue in the removed case, since it dismissed that action following removal; and (4) the district court lacks authority to remand a case at any time based upon a "procedural defect" and a waiver is a procedural defect. The LCBF team, which was retained as oral argument approached, was headed by Mark Landman.