Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Removal
Dist. Ct. erred in denying plaintiff’s objection to removal of citation to discover assets proceeding that had been filed in Illinois circuit court against third-party respondent and defendant, after plaintiff obtained N. Carolina judgment against defendant, and after defendant had transferred its assets to third-party respondent prior to entry of N. Carolina judgment. Instant removal by defendant violated forum-defendant rule under section 1441(b)(2) where third-party respondent had its principal place of business in Illinois, and thus Dist. Ct. should have remanded action back to circuit court. Ct. rejected defendant’s claim that forum-rule did not apply since respondent in citation proceeding was not “defendant” for purposes of said rule, and fact that party removing case was not forum-defendant did not require different result. Ct. also rejected defendant’s and respondent’s argument that remand was unnecessary where Dist. Ct. proceeded to final determination of case on merits.