First Union Mortgage Corp. v. Smith

PAUL KELLY, Jr., Circuit Judge.

Defendant Galen J. Smith removed this action from state court to federal court, and a magistrate judge then sua sponte ordered the case remanded to state court. The question presented in this appeal is whether the magistrate judge had the authority or jurisdiction to do so. Because the remand order disposed of the case as it existed in federal court, we conclude that he did not. We therefore reverse the district court’s order denying reconsideration of the magistrate judge’s order and remand the case to the district court for further proceedings.

In February…