Waiving Goodbye

The Fifth Circuit waived goodbye (for now) to the long-lived dispute of Abraham Watkins v. Festeryga, concluding that the defendant did not waiver his right to remove to federal court. The Court concluded that “the district court committed two legal errors in concluding that Festeryga waived removal.”

First, the district court erred in reading Circuit precedent to establish “a supposed bright line rule: filing any motion to dismiss automatically invokes state-court jurisdiction.” The TCPA motion filed by Festeyga was never set for hearing, or ruled upon, and the filing of the motion had collateral effects (a discovery stay).

Second, the discovery stay created by filing the TCPA motion was not a waiver: “Halting discovery is the quintessential act of preserving the status quo until a new forum takes over.” No. 23-20337 (Sept. 11, 2025).