Opinion
No. 08 C 128.
January 8, 2008
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Rafael Rivera ("Rivera") has filed a personal injury action against three corporate defendants, invoking federal subject matter jurisdiction on diversity of citizenship grounds. This brief memorandum order is issued sua sponte to direct Rivera's counsel to cure a gap in the necessary jurisdictional allegations.
In the "Nature of the Action" paragraph that precedes the several Counts in the Complaint, Rivera identifies himself as an Illinois citizen. But both there and in the body of the Complaint, the only jurisdictional fact alleged as to each of the three corporate defendants is the location of its principal place of business — and as 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1) makes plain, that is only half the story as to any corporate party.
Accordingly Rivera's counsel is ordered to file an appropriate amendment to the Complaint on or before January 22, 2008 specifying the state of incorporation of each of the three defendants. Absent such a filing, this Court would be constrained to dismiss this action because Rivera would not then have discharged his burden of establishing the required diversity of citizenship by his affirmative averments. In the hope and expectation that no such problem will be presented, this Court is contemporaneously issuing its customary initial scheduling order.