191.2 Removal Of Cases From State Court

REMOVAL OF CASES FROM STATE COURT

28 U.S.C. §1452(a) provides as follows:

(a) A party may remove any claim or cause of action in a civil action other than a proceeding before the United States Tax Court or a civil action by a governmental unit to enforce such governmental unit's police or regulatory power, to the district court for the district where such civil action is pending, if such district court has jurisdiction of such claim or cause of action under section 1334 of this title.

   As the title to 28 U.S.C. §1452 itself indicates (''Removal of Claims related to bankruptcy cases matters that can be removed removed include claims ''related to'' a bankruptcy case within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. §1334(b).

    In addition to 28 U.S.C. §1452(a), any civil action brought in a state court may also be subject to removal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1441(a), if applicable. 2  See Things Remembered, Inc. v. Petrarca, 516 U.S. 124 (1995). 28 U.S.C. §1441(a) provides as follows:

           (a) Except as otherwise expressly provided by Act of

                Congress, any civil action brought in a State

                court of which the district courts of the United

                States have original jurisdiction, may be removed

                by the defendant or the defendants, to the

                district court of the United States for the

                district and division embracing the place where

                such action is pending. For purposes of removal

                under this chapter, the citizenship of defendants

                sued under fictitious names shall be disregarded.

Where the basis for removal includes claims related to bankruptcy cases, or federal questions concerning title 11 of the United States Code (the ''Bankruptcy Code''), if the underlying court case sought to be removed (the ''Bankruptcy Related Removed Case") is pending in Maryland, the removal pleading should be filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland, whether the bankruptcy case is pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland or in a bankruptcy court located in another state.

2 It should be noted that, as a practical matter, 28 U.S.C. §1441(a) may be of more limited applicability because of, inter alia, §1446(b)'s potentially more stringent time period for effecting removal and the limitation that only defendants can seek removal under §1441(a) and the general rule that all defendants must join in the request for removal.

Whether the underlying bankruptcy case is pending in Maryland or a bankruptcy court in another state, the removal papers should be filed in the division (Baltimore or Greenbelt) of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland covering the county in Maryland where the Bankruptcy Related Removed Case is pending. See Rule 9027(a)(1), Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (hereinafter referred to as ''Bankruptcy Rule" and 28 U.S.C. §1446(a). 3.

3 If the underlying bankruptcy case is pending in Maryland before a Bankruptcy Judge in a division other than the division in which the notice of removal and other initial removal pleadings are filed, the removed case and any motions related thereto may be assigned or transferred to the Bankruptcy Judge handling the underlying bankruptcy case in Maryland. The cover sheet filed with the clerk's office at the time of filing the notice of removal should indicate the underlying Maryland bankruptcy case as a related case.

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