Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 11-cv-1675
12-01-2011
CASS COUNTY BANK, ET AL v. AMERICAN ALTERNATIVE INSURANCE CORP.
JUDGE STAGG
MAGISTRATE JUDGE HORNSBY
MEMORANDUM ORDER
American Alternative Insurance Corp. ("American") removed this case based on an assertion of diversity jurisdiction, so it bears the burden of presenting facts to establish diversity. The court recently issued a Memorandum Order (Doc. 7) and directed American to file an Amended Notice of Removal to remedy certain deficiencies with respect to the allegations of (1) American's citizenship and (2) Cass County Bank's citizenship.
American filed the Amended Notice of Removal (Doc. 8) and provided specific citizenship information about Cass County Bank. It continued to describe itself, however, as a foreign corporation domiciled in Delaware. It is not clear what American suggests by stating where it is domiciled. The information is not sufficient to establish "with specificity," as required by the prior order, (1) the state in which American is incorporated and (2) the state where it has its principal place of business.
American will be given one more opportunity to satisfy its burden of establishing diversity of citizenship before the court remands this case for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The deadline to file a second Amended Notice of Removal is December 16, 2011. The document must include this sentence, with the blanks completed, "American Alternative Insurance Corp. is a corporation that is incorporated in the state of __________ and has its principal place of business in the state of __________." The rule for determining the principal place of business of a corporation can be found in Hertz Corp. v. Friend, 130 S.Ct. 1181 (2010).
THUS DONE AND SIGNED in Shreveport, Louisiana, this 1st day of December, 2011.
MARK L. HORNSBY
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE