| Venue: | SCOTUS |
| Facts: | Lewis got hurt operating a bulldozer. |
| Posture: | Hoo-boy. Lewis, from KY, sues Caterpillar (DE) and Wayne Supply (who maintained the bulldozer, also from KY). Liberty Mutual (MA), Lewis's employer's insurer intervenes as a plaintiff. Lewis settles with Whayne Supple after just less than 1 year. Liberty Mutual removes the case to federal court based on diversity. Lewis objects to the removal, and asks to remand to state court. Now everybody settles, and only Caterpillar and Lewis are left. Jury trial, Caterpillar wins. Ct. App. apparently noticed that Whayne supply wasn't really out of the case at the time of removal, although they had entered into settlement, and reversed.. |
| Issue: | Does the fact that jurisdiction was erroneously evaluated at the time of removal spoil the whole case, or is it cured by the eventual dismissal of the nondiverse defendant? |
| Holding: | The latter. Reversed. |
| Rule: | If a jurisdictional defect is gone by the time of judgment, we're not going back to do the whole thing over again. |
| Reasoning: | What a mess. Once we've tried it, though, finality, efficiency, and economy become overwhelming. |
| Dicta: | |