Opinion
22-2456-KHV-ADM
11-16-2022
SMART WAREHOUSING, LLC, Plaintiff, v. CLASSIC MARKER LIMITED, Defendant.
NOTICE AND ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
Angel D. Mitchell, U.S. Magistrate Judge.
To counsel representing plaintiff Smart Warehousing, LLC:
Plaintiff's complaint purports to invoke the court's diversity jurisdiction over this action. Diversity jurisdiction requires complete diversity of citizenship between all plaintiffs and all defendants. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a); see also Middleton v. Stephenson, 749 F.3d 1197, 1200 (10th Cir. 2014) (“[D]iversity jurisdiction exists only if no plaintiff and no defendant are citizens of the same state ....”). The court has an independent obligation to satisfy itself that subject-matter jurisdiction is proper. Henderson ex rel. Henderson v. Shinseki, 562 U.S. 428, 434 (2011). If the court determines that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction, it “must dismiss the cause at any stage of the proceedings.” Penteco Corp., Ltd. P'ship v. Union Gas Sys., 929 F.2d 1519, 1512 (10th Cir. 1991); see also FED. R. CIV. P. 12(H)(3) (SAME).
Plaintiff's complaint does not allege facts sufficient for the court to determine whether diversity jurisdiction exists. Specifically, plaintiff states only that it is a “Kansas Limited Liability Company.” (ECF 1, at ¶6.) A limited liability company's citizenship is determined by that of its members. Siloam Springs Hotel, L.L.C. v. Century Sur. Co., 781 F.3d 1233, 1234 (10th Cir. 2015). The complaint does not identify plaintiff's members, let alone allege their citizenship.
Because the face of the complaint does not identify plaintiff's citizenship, plaintiff has failed to establish complete diversity of citizenship between it and defendant. Thus, the court orders plaintiff to show cause in writing by December 1, 2022, why the court should not recommend that the district judge dismiss this case without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Any response to this show-cause order must point to factual allegations that, if true, would establish complete diversity.
IT IS SO ORDERED.