Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

I believe that you can as long as the case has not already been ordered removed to federal court by the state court judge. If it is just a request that has not been ruled on by the judge, I believe you are free to proceed as you would normally because technically the case is still pending in state court. A plaintiff can propound discovery right after the complaint has been filed and served (even if served on defendant's registered agent for service of process such as CT Corporation), while there is a period of time after the filing and service of the complaint during which a defendant may not propound discovery.

This is all based on my memory as I dealt with this issue once so the above should not be relied on as attorney-client advice and we have no attorney-client relationship. You should look up the CCP sections yourself.

WOW. It is really scary sometimes how bad a lawyer's memory of the law can be and they still pass the bar. First off, federal issues aside, it is the PLAINTIFF that is not allowed to propound discovery for a certain period until after the complaint is served. There is NO limit on when the defendant can propound discovery in California state courts. Second - a removal is NOT as state court matter. The state court NEVER rules on it. There is NO removal order from the state court. Removal is AUTOMATIC as long as the defendant who seeks to remove the case files and serves the correct papers. THERE IS NO STATE COURT ACTION ON A REMOVAL OF ANY KIND! Removal is automatically approved unless either the plaintiff files a motion, or the federal court on it's own initiative chooses, to remand the case back to the state court. Once the removal is filed you ARE in federal court, unless and until a remand order is issued. Therefore, once the removal notice is properly filed you must comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the federal rules of court, both national and local, in dealing with discovery, including the automatic stay on discovery until initial disclosures are completed and the initial case management conference is held.