4. An important limitation on the removal of a diversity action is the ban on removal by an in-state defendant. See 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b). In a multi-defendant action, does the presence of even one in-state defendant block removal? In LIVELY v. WILD OATS MARKETS, INC., 456 F.3d 933 (9th Cir. 2006), certiorari denied 549 U.S. 1207, 127 S.Ct. 1265, 167 L.Ed.2d 77

(2007), plaintiff did not object to removal. After the case had been pending for eight months, the District Court determined that defendant was a citizen of the forum state and so remanded the action. The Ninth Circuit reversed, holding that the forum-state bar is a procedural, not a jurisdictional, defect and so subject to waiver. The circuits currently are divided on this question. See Metzler, Jr., A Lively Debate: The Eighth Circuit and the Forum Defendant Rule, 36 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 1638 (2010); see also Dodson, In Search of Removal Jurisdiction, 102 Nw. U. L. Rev. 55 (2008).