Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 06-2237.
February 23, 2007
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Pending before the Court is Plaintiff's appeal [Doc. No. 14] of Magistrate Judge Hayes' Memorandum Ruling. On January 12, 2007, Magistrate Judge Karen L. Hayes issued a Memorandum Ruling [Doc. No. 13], which denied Plaintiff's Motion to Remand [Doc. No. 10].
The Fifth Circuit has not addressed what standard of review should be applied to a district court's review of a magistrate judge's ruling on a motion to remand. However, district courts in this circuit have generally found that a motion to remand is a non-dispositive pretrial matter and have applied the clearly erroneous/contrary to law standard of review pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A) and Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(a). See, e.g., Lonkowski v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. Civ. A. 96-1192, 1996 WL 888182, at *2-4 (W.D. La. Dec. 10, 1996); Vaquillas Ranch Co., Ltd. v. Texaco Exploration and Prod., Inc., 844 F. Supp. 1156, 1162 (S.D. Tex. 1994); Bethay v. Ford Motor Co., No. Civ. A. 99-0367, 1999 WL 496488, at *1 (E.D. La. July 13, 1999). This Court has similarly adhered to the view that motions to remand are non-dispositive pretrial matters.
Having conducted a review of the entire record, the Court finds that, under the facts and circumstances of this case, Magistrate Judge Hayes' Memorandum Ruling was not clearly erroneous nor contrary to law. Accordingly, Magistrate Judge Hayes' Memorandum Ruling is AFFIRMED, and Plaintiff's appeal is DENIED.