Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 15-594-JJB-RLB
02-08-2016
LUCIEN LEE, ET AL v. L&L ENTERPRISES, INC., ET AL
ORDER
The court sua sponte notes the potential insufficiency of the plaintiff's allegation of the citizenship of the parties as follows; 1. X A party invoking diversity jurisdiction must allege the citizenship rather than mere residence of an individual. In addition, see 28 U.S.C. §1332(c)(2) for infants, minors and an incompetent. The citizenship of plaintiffs Lucien Lee and Donna Lee is not provided. 2. X A party invoking diversity jurisdiction must allege both the state of incorporation and principal place of business of each corporate party. See, e.g., Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Co. v. Pargas , Inc., 706 F.2d 633 (5th Cir. 1983). The principal place of business of defendants L&L Enterprises, Inc. and TSR, Inc. is not provided. 3. ___ A party invoking diversity jurisdiction must allege both the state of incorporation and principal place of business of each corporate party. See, e.g., Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Co. v. Pargas , Inc., 706 F.2d 633 (5th Cir. 1983). Even when a liability insurer takes on its insured's citizenship under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1), its own citizenship still is considered in determining whether complete diversity exists. The state of incorporation and principal place of business of __________ is not provided. 4. X A party invoking diversity jurisdiction must properly allege the citizenship of a limited liability company. The citizenship of a limited liability company for diversity purposes is determined by the citizenship of its members. The citizenship of all of the members of a limited liability company must be properly alleged. In the event a member of a limited liability company is another limited liability company, the members of that limited liability company must be properly alleged as well. See Harvey v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co ., 542 F.3d 1077, 1080 (5th Cir. 2008). The complete citizenship of defendants Outdoor Distributors, LLC, Ol'Man Outdoors, LLC and Millenium Outdoors, LLC, d/b/a Millenium Outdoors and/or Ol'Man Treestands and/or Ol'Man Outdoors is not provided. 5. ___ A party invoking diversity jurisdiction must properly allege the citizenship of a general partnership, a limited liability partnership, and a limited partnership. A general partnership, a limited liability partnership, and a limited partnership has the citizenship of each one of its partners. Both the general partner and limited partner must be alleged to establish citizenship of a limited partnership. See International Paper Co. v. Denkmann Assoc ., 116 F.3d 134, 137 (5th Cir. 1997) ; Carden v. Arkoma Associates , 494 U.S. 185 (1990). The citizenship of __________ is not provided. 6. ___ A party invoking diversity jurisdiction must properly allege the citizenship of Underwriters at Lloyd's, London. The citizenship of Underwriters at Lloyd's, London has not been provided. See Corfield v. Dallas Glen Hills LP , 355 F.3d 853 (5th Cir. 2003). 7. ___ A party invoking diversity jurisdiction must properly allege the citizenship of a sole proprietorship. A business entity cannot be both a corporation and sole proprietorship; therefore the court seeks to clarify the identity of plaintiff/defendant. Case law suggests that the citizenship of a sole proprietorship for diversity purposes is determined by the citizenship of its members and/or owners. See L inder Enterprises v. Martinringle , No. 07-1733, 2007 WL 3095382 (N.D. Tex., Oct. 22, 2007). The citizenship of __________ is not provided.
The phrase "principal place of business" in §1332(c)(1) refers to the place where a corporation's high level officers direct, control, and coordinate the corporation's activities, i.e., its "nerve center," which will typically be found at its corporate headquarters. Hertz Corp. v. Friend , 130 S.Ct. 1181, 175 L.Ed.2d 1029 (2010)
See footnote 1.
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Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1653, that, on or before February 29, 2016, the plaintiffs shall file an amended complaint providing the citizenship of plaintiffs Lucien Lee and Donna Lee and defendants L&L Enterprises, Inc., TSR, Inc., Outdoor Distributors, LLC, Ol'Man Outdoors, LLC and Millenium Outdoors, LLC, d/b/a Millenium Outdoors and/or Ol'Man Treestands and/or Ol'Man Outdoors by setting forth all citizenship particulars required to sustain federal diversity jurisdiction.
Signed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on February 8, 2016.
/s/ _________
RICHARD L. BOURGEOIS, JR.
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE