L & M Development Corporation of S.D v. Gregory

DISCUSSION

26 A suit filed in state court may be removed to federal court by the defendant or 27 defendants if the federal court would have had original subject matter jurisdiction over 28 that suit. 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a); Snow v. Ford Motor Co., 561 F.2d 787, 789 (9th Cir. 1977). The existence of federal jurisdiction must be determined on the face of the plaintiff’s complaint. See Caterpillar, Inc. v. Williams, 482 U.S. 386, 392 (1987). A “cause of action arises under federal law only when the plaintiff’s well pleaded complaint raises issues of federal law.” Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Taylor, 481 U.S. 58, 63 (1987). A well pleaded complaint must establish “either that federal law creates the cause of action or that the plaintiff’s right to relief necessarily depends on resolution of a substantial question of federal law.” Franchise Tax Bd. v. Constr. Laborers Vacation Trust, 463 U.S. 1, 27- (1983). The Court may remand sua sponte or on motion of a party, and the party who invoked the federal court’s removal jurisdiction has the burden of establishing federal jurisdiction. See Emrich v. Touche Ross & Co., 846 F.2d 1190, 1195…