Case 2:13-cv-01275-DRH-ETB

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FN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK NATIONAL GRID CORPORATE SERVICES, LLC, Plaintiffs, v. BRAND ENERGY SERVICES, LLC, ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY, and ERICK LLAGUNO, Defendants. NOTICE OF REMOVAL Defendants, BRAND ENERGY SERVICES, LLC, ("Brand"), and ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY, through their attorneys, SCHNADER, HARRISON, SEGAL & LEWIS LLP, and pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1446, remove the action captioned above and currently pending in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Suffolk County, as case no. 13-02616, to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Removal is based upon the diversity statute, 28 U.S.C. 1332. The following are the relevant facts that establish this court's diversity jurisdiction over this matter: 1. Plaintiff National Grid Corporate Services, LLC, on information and belief, is a ) No.

limited liability company organized under the laws of New York, the member(s) of which are all citizen(s) of New York. 2. Defendant ACE American Insurance Company ("ACE") is a Pennsylvania

corporation with its principal place of business in Scranton, Pennsylvania. 3. Defendant Brand Energy Services, LLC, is a limited liability company organized

under the laws of Delaware, the sole member of which is Brand Scaffold Services, LLC, which

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is a limited liability company organized under the laws of Delaware, the sole member of which is Brand Services, LLC, which is a limited liability company organized under the laws of Delaware, the sole member of which is Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services, Inc., which is a corporation organized under the laws of Delaware with its principal place of business in Kennesaw, Georgia. 4. Defendant Erick Llaguno is a citizen of New York, but is a nominal defendant

whose interests are more properly aligned with those of the plaintiff, therefore, defendants Brand and ACE will be asking this court to re-align the parties to reflect Llaguno as a plaintiff rather than a defendant. 5. Once the parties are properly re-aligned to reflect Erick Llaguno as a plaintiff

rather than a defendant, there will be full diversity in this action because it is between citizens of different states. 6. The state court complaint, attached to this Notice of Removal as Exhibit A,

requests a declaratory judgment that defendants Brand and ACE owe defense and indemnity to the plaintiff in an underlying personal injury action; on information and belief, National Grid has already accrued over $75,000 in defense fees in the underlying personal injury action (the sum of which the plaintiff is seeking to recover from defendants Brand and ACE in this action), therefore, the declaratory judgment sought against Brand and ACE is for an amount that, on information and belief, exceeds the sum or value of $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs. 7. Brand was served with summons and complaint on February 8, 2013, in the state

court action, and ACE has not yet been served with summons and complaint in the state court action, thus, the filing of this Notice of Removal is within the 30 day time period for filing a Notice of Removal under 28 U.S.C. 1446(b).

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8.

This court is situated in the district serving the location of the state court action

under 28 U.S.C. 1446(a). 9. As both defendants Brand and ACE are being represented by the same attorneys,

counsel for defendants Brand and ACE can represent to this court that defendants Brand and ACE have expressed their consent to the removal of this action to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York; because defendant Erick Llaguno should be re-aligned as a plaintiff rather than as a defendant, his consent is not required for removing this matter to federal court.

Respectfully submitted, BRAND ENERGY SERVICES, LLC, and ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY

By:

-Ct{

Matthew J. Kelly Jr., Esq. Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, LLP 140 Broadway, 31 st Floor New York, New York 10005 212-973-8000 Fax: 212-972-8798 Email: mjkelly@schnader.com