DISTRICT COURT FINDS THAT SERVICE OF SUIT CLAUSE WAIVES RIGHT OF REMOVAL
In his capacity as Liquidator of Midland Insurance Company, the Superintendent of Insurance of the State of New York brought suit in New York Supreme Court against Dunav Re, a Serbian reinsurance company, seeking reinsurance monies owed. Dunav Re removed the action to federal court based on diversity jurisdiction, and the Superintendent subsequently moved to remand based on the ground that Dunav Re had consented to the jurisdiction of any competent court pursuant to the service of suit clause in the reinsurance agreements. Dunav Re argued that removal was proper because the service of suit clause’s language was ambiguous and the waiver of the right to removal had to be clear and unequivocal. The court found no ambiguity, citing a New York Court of Appeals decision stating the reinsurance industry has known since a 1949 decision that a service of suit clause waived removal, and granted the motion to remand. Dinallo v. Dunav Ins. Co., Case No. 09-5575 (USDC S.D.N.Y. Nov. 19, 2009).
This post written by Dan Crisp.
