Luther Johnson, individually and as heirs of decedent Legend Alfonzo Johnson; and Jordan Johnson, individually and as heirs of decedent Legend Alfonzo Johnson v. San Diego Family Housing, LLC et al.
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- James E. Simmons (author)
Analysis
The court considered Plaintiffs' Motion to Remand a case removed to federal court. The court granted the motion, remanded the case to state court, and ordered Defendants to pay attorneys' fees due to the lack of an objectively reasonable basis for removal.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Plaintiffs' Motion to Remand is granted.“Plaintiffs’ Motion to Remand the matter to state court is GRANTED.” | agree with court The court relies on a Ninth Circuit precedent (Childs v. San Diego Family Housing, LLC) to determine that the case is factually analogous and thus subject to remand. Assuming the factual analogy holds, the application of the controlling circuit precedent is legally sound. |
Defendants are ordered to pay attorneys' fees.“The Court finds that Defendants lacked an objectively reasonable basis for removal and awards attorneys’ fees.” | agree with court Under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), a court may award reasonable attorney's fees and costs if removal was improper and the removing party lacked an objectively reasonable basis for seeking removal. The court's finding of no objectively reasonable basis supports the award. |
The order itself: sound with gaps — The order is extremely brief and relies entirely on a 'factually analogous' finding to a single Ninth Circuit case without detailing the specific legal grounds for the analogy or the lack of an objectively reasonable basis. While the result is likely correct given the citation, the reasoning is not self-contained.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 LUTHER JOHNSON, individually and as Case No.: 3:25-cv-02769-JES-MMP heirs of decedent LEGEND ALFONZO 12 JOHNSON; and JORDAN JOHNSON, ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO 13 individually and as heirs of decedent REMAND LEGEND ALFONZO JOHNSON, 14 Plaintiffs, [ECF No. 12] 15 v. 16 SAN DIEGO FAMILY HOUSING, LLC 17 et al., 18 Defendants. 19 20 21 For the reasons stated on the record at the January 7, 2026, hearing, Plaintiffs’ 22 Motion to Remand the matter to state court is GRANTED. The Court finds this case 23 factually analogous to Childs v. San Diego Family Housing, LLC, 150 F.4th 1151 (9th Cir. 2025). Further, the Court finds that Defendants lacked an objectively reasonable basis for 24 removal and awards attorneys’ fees. Plaintiffs have until January 23, 2026, to submit their 25 motion for attorneys’ fees. Defendants may file an optional response no later than January 26 27 30, 2026. No reply briefing will be accepted. 28 // I IT IS SO ORDERED. 2 Dated: January 7, 2026 3 Str J. 4 Honorable James E. Simmons Jr. 5 United States District Judge 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28