5th Circuit: Removal Clock Begins Upon Receipt of Deposition Transcript, Not on Day Oral Testimony is Giving

NEW ORLEANS –– The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has weighed in on a jurisdictional dispute in an asbestos case, adopting a bright line rule that Section 1446(b)(3)’s removal clock “begins ticket upon receipt of the deposition transcript,” not the day the oral statement giving rise to federal jurisdiction was made.

In the Jan. 11 opinion, the 5th Circuit, however, remanded the case for a determination by the federal court as to whether the removing defendants had met the substantive requirements of federal officer removal.

Plaintiff Curtis Morgan filed the underlying lawsuit, contending that his employment as a sheet …