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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION DENTAL ASSOCIATES, P.C., d/b/a REDWOOD DENTAL GROUP, Plaintiff, v. AMERICAN DENTAL PARTNERS OF MICHIGAN, LLC and AMERICAN DENTAL PARTNERS, INC., Defendants. Ronald L. Cornell, Jr. (P46860) SEYBURN, KAHN, GINN, BESS & SERLIN, P.C. Attorneys for Plaintiff 200 Town Center, Suite 1500 Southfield, Michigan 48075 (248) 353-7620 Robert M. Jackson (P40723) Jason R. Abel (P70408) HONIGMAN MILLER SCHWARTZ AND COHN LLP Attorneys for Defendants 2290 First National Building 660 Woodward Avenue Detroit, Michigan 48226 (313) 465-7430 Civil Action No. _______________ Hon. ________________________
NOTICE OF REMOVAL PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1441 and 1446, Defendants remove to this Court the state-court action that was served on Defendants on or about March 25, 2011 and that was venued in the Wayne County, Michigan Circuit Court. As required by 28 U.S.C. 1446(a), attached are copies of all process, pleadings and orders served upon the Defendants in the removed case. In support of this Notice of Removal, Defendants state: 1. Plaintiff filed its Complaint in the Wayne County, Michigan Circuit Court on
March 17, 2011, and the Complaint was assigned Case No. 11-003213-CK. The first date upon which Defendants were served with a copy of the Complaint in the removed case was March 25,
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2011. This Notice of Removal is being filed within 30 days of service, and, therefore, is timely filed under 28 U.S.C. 1446(b). 2. Venue of this removal is proper under 28 U.S.C. 1441(a), because this Court is
in the United States District Court for the district and division corresponding to the venue where the state-court action was filed. 3. This is a civil action that falls within the Courts original jurisdiction under 28
U.S.C. 1332 (diversity of citizenship) and is one that may be removed to this Court based on diversity of citizenship under 28 U.S.C. 1441 and 1446 because: (a) As stated in the Complaint, 1, Plaintiff Dental Associates, P.C., d/b/a Redwood Dental Group, is a Michigan professional corporation with its registered office located in Warren, Michigan. It therefore is a citizen of the State of Michigan at the time of removal and at the time this action was served. (b) As stated in the Complaint, 3, American Dental Partners, Inc. (ADPI) is a publically-traded Delaware corporation with its headquarters located in Wakefield, Massachusetts. ADPIs principal place of business is, in fact, in Massachusetts. ADPI is, therefore, a citizen of Delaware and Massachusetts at the time of removal and at the time this action was served. 28 U.S.C.
1332(c)(1) (stating that a corporation is a citizen of its state of incorporation and the state in which its principal place of business is located); V & M Star, LP v. Centimark Corp., 596 F.3d 354, 355 (6th Cir. 2009). (c) As stated in the Complaint, 2, Defendant American Dental Partners of Michigan, LLC (ADP of Michigan) is a Delaware limited liability company. A limited liability company is a citizen of all of the states in which its members are
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citizens. V & M Star, LP, 596 F.3d at 356. The sole member of ADP of Michigan is ADPI. Therefore, ADP of Michigan is a citizen of Delaware and Massachusetts, and it was so at the time of removal and at the time this action was served. (d) The monetary value of the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000, exclusive of interests and costs, for three independently sufficient reasons. First, [i]n actions seeking declaratory or injunctive relief, it is well established that the amount in controversy is measured by the value of the object of the litigation. Hunt v. Washington State Apple Adver. Commn, 432 U.S. 333, 347 (1997). Here, the Plaintiff seeks a declaration that it can terminate its agreement with ADP of Michigan. The potential loss to the Plaintiff from enforcement of the agreement exceeds $75,000 because the Plaintiff will pay ADP of Michigan far in excess of $75,000 through the remaining life of the agreement if the Plaintiff does not succeed in this lawsuit in terminating its agreement. (Affidavit of Breht T. Feigh Feigh Aff. at 3-5, attached as Exhibit A.) See Crestmark Bank v. Goldleaf Fin. Solutions, Inc., No. 07-12841, 2007 WL 2694174, at *9 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 11, 2007) (The object of the litigation is not the contract itself, but the costs associated with its enforcement against the plaintiff to the plaintiff). Moreover, where a constructive trust is sought, as in this case, the amount in controversy includes all money retained by the defendants. Rosen v. Chrysler Corp., 205 F.3d 918 (6th Cir. 2000). The amount over which the Plaintiff seeks a constructive trust exceeds $75,000 in this case. (Feigh Aff. at 6.) Finally, the Plaintiff has sued for damages. Plaintiff alleges in its Complaint that this case is similar to
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another case in which the plaintiff recovered approximately $88 million in compensatory damages and over $40 million in punitive damages. (Complaint at 17.) Therefore, Plaintiffs own allegations illustrate that the amount in
controversy exceeds $75,000. 4. Thus, the state-court action may be removed to this Court in accordance with the
provisions of 28 U.S.C. 1441(a) because: (i) this action is a civil action pending within the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan; (ii) this action is between citizens of different states; and (iii) the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000 exclusive of interest and costs. 5. 6. All of the Defendants join in removal of this action. If any question arises as to the propriety of the removal of this action, Defendants
request the opportunity to brief any disputed issues and to present oral argument in support of its position that this case is properly removable. 7. Nothing in this Notice of Removal shall be interpreted as a waiver or
relinquishment of any of the Defendants rights to deny the allegations contained in Plaintiffs Complaint, or of Defendants rights to assert any defenses, including, without limitation: (1) lack of jurisdiction of the person, (2) improper venue, (3) insufficiency of process, (4) insufficiency of service of process, (5) improper joinder of claims and/or parties, (6) failure to state a claim, (7) failure to join an indispensable party, (8) that Plaintiffs claims must be arbitrated or (9) any other procedural or substantive defenses available under state or federal law. 8. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1446(d), written notice of the removal of this action has
been given simultaneously to Plaintiffs counsel, and the Notification of Filing Notice of Removal in Federal Court is simultaneously being filed with the Wayne County Circuit Court,
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State of Michigan. A copy of the filing with the Wayne County Circuit Court (without exhibit) is attached as Exhibit B. WHEREFORE, Defendants request that further proceedings be conducted in this Court as provided by law.
By: /s/ Jason R. Abel Robert M. Jackson (P40723) Jason R. Abel (P70408) 2290 First National Building 660 Woodward Avenue Detroit, MI 48226 Phone: 313-465-7430 and MASLON EDELMAN BORMAN & BRAND, LLP William Z. Pentelovitch (#85078) Haley N. Schaffer (#0313099) 3300 Wells Fargo Center 90 South Seventh Street Minneapolis, MN 55402-4140 Phone: 612-672-8200
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on April 15, 2011, I electronically filed the foregoing papers with the Clerk of the Court using the ECF system which will send notification of such filing to all ECF participants; and I hereby certify that I have mailed the foregoing papers by United States Postal Service to the following non-ECF participants: Ronald L. Cornell, Jr. (P46860) SEYBURN, KAHN, GINN, BESS & SERLIN, P.C. Attorneys for Plaintiff 200 Town Center, Suite 1500 Southfield, Michigan 48075 (248) 353-7620 By: /s/ Jason R. Abel Robert M. Jackson (P40723) Jason R. Abel (P70408) 2290 First National Building 660 Woodward Avenue Detroit, MI 48226 Phone: 313-465-7430
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