'Nerve Center' Test Thwarts Removal, Federal Judge Rules

PHILADELPHIA - A Pennsylvania federal judge has remanded a Lamictal injury case to state court, ruling that the defendant corporation is barred from removing the case to Pennsylvania federal court because its principal place of business is in Pennsylvania. Monroe v. GlaxoSmithKline LLC, No. 10-02140 (E.D. Pa.).

On June 25, Judge Curtis Joyner of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania applied the U.S. Supreme Court's recent "nerve center" test in determining GlaxoSmithKline LLC's principal place of business.

In April, Thomas Monroe Jr., a New York resident, sued GSK in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, …