Opinion ID: 581404
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: review by appeal or mandamus?

Text: 18 We now consider whether we review the district court's remand order by appeal or mandamus. McDermott recently addressed this question, and we need not repeat that discussion here. See 944 F.2d at 1201-04. When a district court has remanded a case without authority to do so, we review by mandamus. Id. at 1203 (citing Thermtron, 423 U.S. at 352-53, 96 S.Ct. at 594). Presumably, we will always vacate a remand order that we review by mandamus because the district court lacked authority to remand the case on the stated grounds. If, however, the district court had authority to remand on the stated grounds, we review by appeal to determine whether the court properly exercised its authority in that particular case. Id. at 1203-04. 19 As this court explained in McDermott, there are three potential sources of a district court's authority to remand a case: (1) statutes that grant such authority; (2) a contract between the parties; and (3) circumstances that give the court discretion to dismiss the case. Id. at 1204. The district court in the present case, however, based its remand order on the spirit of federalism, and not on one of these three sources. Because the district court remanded this case without authority to do so, we review by mandamus and vacate the district court's remand order.C. DISPOSITION 20 We remand this case for the district court to consider the merits of the Grassis' motion to remand, and we offer the following guidance for the court's consideration. The Grassis argued that section 1446(b)'s one-year rule and CG-PLC's failure to join International Paper's notice of removal made removal improper. If the Grassis' Amended Application is a continuation of the action filed in 1983, then the Grassis are correct. The district court believed that, to determine whether it could treat the Amended Application as a continuation of the suit filed in 1983, it needed to determine whether there was fraud in the transfer of Ilford Photo. But the question is actually whether, under Texas law, a plaintiff may seek turnover relief from a new defendant by alleging that the new defendant obtained the property in violation of the UFTA and thus the original defendant (the judgment debtor) retains ownership or control of the property. The key jurisdictional question is not, as the district court believed, whether there was in fact fraud in the transfer, but whether the Grassis can seek to prove that there was fraud in the transfer as part of their attempt to obtain relief under the turnover statute. 21 If the district court determines that the Grassis can allege that International Paper is a fraudulent transferee as part of their claim for turnover relief, then the Amended Application is an extension of the 1983 suit and the district court must remand this case to state court under the one-year rule of section 1446(b). If the Grassis cannot include the fraud claim in the turnover application, then the Amended Application asserts a fraudulent transfer claim against International Paper that is separate and independent from the 1983 suit. 22 We GRANT the petition for mandamus, VACATE the district court's remand order, and REMAND the case to the district court. International Paper's appeal is DISMISSED.