Justia Class Action Opinion Summaries

Defendants-Appellants Farmers Insurance Exchange (Farmers) and Mid-Century Insurance Company (Mid-Century) removed a putative class action suit from state court to federal district court. Upon motion of Plaintiff-Appellee Lawrence Countryman, the federal court remanded the case back to the state court based on a procedural defect in the Defendantsâ notice of removal. Specifically, Defendants were required to attach copies of all process, pleadings and orders for both Farmers and Mid-Century. The copies served to all parties in this case only contained those pertaining to Farmers, not Mid-Century. Defendants supplemented their joint notice or removal to include the missing Mid Century documents. Defendants challenged the lower courtâs remand of the case to state court. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit found that the Defendantsâ omission was an inadvertent, procedural defect that was timely cured, and caused no prejudice to Plaintiffs. The Court vacated the district courtâs decision, and remanded the case back to federal court.