Summary
holding that a settlement demand recommending settlement for an unspecified amount of policy limits was insufficient to establish the amount in controversy, and holding: “A careful reading of the Demand shows that neither Plaintiff nor her counsel knew the limits of the policy at issue when making the ‘policy-limits' demand, and that the Demand is not actually a demand for a specific amount in excess of jurisdictional threshold.”
Summary of this case from Ringo v. The Hanover Ins. Co.Opinion
Civil Action 21-00369-BAJ-EWD
01-27-2022
DIANA L. TAYLOR v. OLD REPUBLIC INSURANCE COMPANY, ET AL.
RULING AND ORDER
BRIAN A. JACKSON, UNITED STATES JUDGE.
This is an auto-accident case. Plaintiff filed her original Petition For Damages on May 21, 2021, in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Doc. 1-2). On June 25, 2021, Defendants removed Plaintiffs action to this District, invoking the Court's diversity jurisdiction. (Doc. 1)
On August 3, 2021, the Magistrate Judge ordered Defendants to file an amended notice of removal properly setting forth the basis of the Court's jurisdiction, to include the citizenship of all parties involved in this dispute, and supporting evidence establishing that the amount in controversy requirement is met. (Doc. 6). On August 10, 2021, Defendants filed their Amended Notice Of Removal (Doc. 7), as well as their Supplemental Briefing On Amount In Controversy (Doc. 8).
Presently before the Court is the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation (Doc. 12), recommending that this action be remanded to state court due to Defendants' failure to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy likely exceeds $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs. There are no objections to the Magistrate Judge's recommendation.
Having carefully considered Defendants' removal papers, Defendants' Supplemental Briefing, and related filings, and in the absence of any objection from Defendants, the Court APPROVES the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation (Doc. 8), and ADOPTS it as the Court's opinion in this matter.
Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the above-captioned action be and is hereby REMANDED immediately to the Nineteenth Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana.