1. Whether the Second Circuit erred in holding that a defendant's late return of a CPLR 312-a acknowledgment form does not constitute proper service under New York law and therefore does not trigger the forum-defendant rule, contrary to this Court's removal jurisprudence and the Second Circuit's own binding precedent in Morse v. Elmira Country Club, 752 F.2d 35 (2d Cir. 1984).

2. Whether a federal appellate court may make factual findings in the first instance—such as deeming service "unsuccessful"—when the district court made no such finding and the record supports service completed under state law.

Whether the Second Circuit erred in holding that a defendant's late return of a CPLR 312-a acknowledgment form does not constitute proper service under New York law and therefore does not trigger the forum-defendant rule