Westinghouse Electric Corporation v. Newman & Holtzinger, P.C. Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge Chase, Rotchford, Drukker & Bogust, Law Corporation

Westinghouse Electric Corporation (Westinghouse) appeals the district court’s dismissal of its action for breach of and tortious interference with an alleged agreement entered into during an underlying federal action. Westinghouse originally brought its action in California state court against three law firms, two of which — Newman & Holt-zinger, P.C. (N & H) and Chase, Rotchford, Drukker & Bogust (Chase) — represented parties to the underlying federal action and were alleged to be parties to the agreement. The third law firm, Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge (Shaw), was a party to neither the action nor the agreement. It was alleged to have conspired to breach the agreement. The law firms removed the action to federal court. The district court simultaneously denied Westinghouse’s motion for remand and granted the law firms’ motion to dismiss. We reverse, and remand so that the district court can remand the action to the state court.

BACKGROUND

In its state court complaint, Westinghouse alleged that N & H and Chase were counsel for Southern California Edison Company (SCE), a utilities company that sued Westinghouse in the underlying federal action (the SCE action). The SCE…