Opinion
09 Civ. 1339 (DLC).
October 19, 2009
ORDER
Plaintiff, a California citizen, has sued the WNBA in this diversity action. In her complaint, plaintiff identifies New York as the WNBA's principle place of business and place of incorporation. At the initial pre-trial conference with the Court on April 10, defendant identified itself as a citizen of both New York and Delaware. In its July 2, 2009 motion for judgment on the pleadings or to compel arbitration, however, defendant identifies itself as "WNBA, LLC . . . inaccurately named in the above caption," and says that "WNBA, LLC is a limited liability company" whose members include the owners and operators of each of the teams in the women's professional basketball league known as the WNBA.
For the purposes of diversity jurisdiction, a limited liability company has the citizenship of each of its members. Carden v. Arkoma Assoc., 494 U.S. 185, 195-96 (1990) ("[T]he citizenship of an artificial entity . . . depends on the citizenship of `all the members,' `the several persons composing such association,' [or] `each of its members.'"); accord Handelsman v. Bedford Village Assocs. Ltd., 213 F.3d 48, 51-52 (2d Cir. 2000). Neither party having identified the members of WNBA, LLC and their respective places of citizenship, it is hereby
ORDERED that defendant shall submit a letter by October 23, 2009 identifying each of its members and their respective places of citizenship.
SO ORDERED: