Burroughs v. Palumbo
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
871 F. Supp. 870 (1994)
- Written by Heather Whittemore, JD
Facts
William S. Burroughs, Jr. (plaintiff), a Virginia citizen, filed a lawsuit in Virginia state court against P. M. Palumbo (defendant), a Florida citizen, to recover unpaid legal fees. Palumbo was served with the case on September 1, 1994, when the legal documents were delivered to his house. Palumbo was out of town and did not return until September 23. On September 29, Palumbo filed a notice of removal with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, removing Burroughs’s case on diversity-jurisdiction grounds. On September 30, the Virginia state court entered a default judgment against Palumbo because he failed to answer Burroughs’s complaint within the 21-day period imposed by state law. That same day, Palumbo filed a notice of removal with the state court. Palumbo later filed a motion to set aside the state court’s default judgment, arguing that the state court lacked jurisdiction over the case when the default judgment was entered because he had already filed a notice of removal with the federal court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Brinkema, J.)
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