Williams v. Nat’l Heritage Realty Inc., 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39889 (D. Miss. 2006)

A wrongful death case was removed to federal court on diversity grounds. Defendants alleged fraudulent joinder. Plaintiff’s motion to remand was granted. The court found that the removing party bears the burden of showing fraudulent joinder. In particular, Defendant argued there was no reasonable possibility that Plaintiff could recover against the Mississippi defendant, citing the lack of specificity of Plaintiff’s allegations in the Complaint. The court, citing Gray v. Beverly Enterprises-Mississippi, Inc., 390 F.3d 400 (5th Cir. 2004), found that Plaintiff need only demonstrate a reasonable possibility of recovery and that there were no circumstances which would dictate dismissal with prejudice of Plaintiff’s claims against the Mississippi defendant. Thus, Defendant filed to meet its burden.