Caterpillar Inc. v. James David Lewis

Decided December 10, 1996. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 95-1263 · 519 U.S. 61 (1996) · Cited 2,132 times

Holding

A district court’s error in failing to remand a case improperly removed is not fatal to the ensuing adjudication if federal jurisdictional requirements are met at the time judgment is entered.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• American Fire & Casualty Co. v. Finn · 341 U.S. 6 (1951)
• Grubbs v. General Electric Credit Corp. · 405 U.S. 699 (1972)
• Newman-Green, Inc. v. Alfonzo-Larrain · 490 U.S. 826 (1989)
• Strawbridge v. Curtiss · 7 U.S. 267 (1806)
• Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
• Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay · 437 U.S. 463 (1978)
• Carden v. Arkoma Associates · 494 U.S. 185 (1990)
• State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Tashire · 386 U.S. 523 (1967)
• Wichita Railroad & Light Co. v. Public Utilities Commission of Kansas · 260 U.S. 48 (1922)
• Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad v. Stude · 346 U.S. 574 (1954)
• Vance v. Terrazas · 444 U.S. 252 (1980)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Grupo Dataflux v. Atlas Global Group, L. P. · 541 U.S. 567 (2004)
• Jones v. United States · 527 U.S. 373 (1999)
• Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Services, Inc. · 545 U.S. 546 (2005)
• Upper Skagit Tribe v. Lundgren · 584 U.S. 554 (2018)
• Ruhrgas Ag v. Marathon Oil Co. · 526 U.S. 574 (1999)
• Baldwin v. Reese · 541 U.S. 27 (2004)
• Wisconsin Department of Corrections v. Schacht · 524 U.S. 381 (1998)
• Lincoln Property Co. v. Roche · 546 U.S. 81 (2005)
• Lexecon Inc. v. Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach · 523 U.S. 26 (1998)
• Royal Canin U. S. A. v. Wullschleger · 604 U.S. 22 (2025)
• Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation v. Hood · 541 U.S. 440 (2004)
• Ramdass v. Angelone · 530 U.S. 156 (2000)
• Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt · 598 U.S. 39 (2023)
• Financial Oversight and Management Bd. for P. R. v. Centro De Periodismo Investigativo, Inc. · 598 U.S. 339 (2023)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1996). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).