Defendants who can remove a state court suit to federal court often do that because defendants generally prefer to be in federal court. In federal court, the procedural rules for defendants are more favorable, there are limitations on voir dire, federal judges exert tighter control on the proceedings than state court judges and federal jurors often are more conservative than their state court counterparts because federal jurors are drawn from areas beyond the sometimes liberal-leaning city centers.

A defendant may remove a suit from state court to federal court only if the case involves federal court jurisdiction, diversity or a statute that authorizes removal. Section 1441(b)(2) of Title 28 of the United States Code imposes an additional limitation on a defendant’s ability to remove a suit to federal state court. A defendant cannot remove a suit if any citizen of the state where the action is filed has been “joined and served” as a defendant. Courts and commentators refer to this limitation as the “no local defendant rule” or the “forum-defendant rule.”