Opinion
2:23-cv-01044-CDS-NJK
03-04-2024
WMCV Phase 1 Spe, LLC, Plaintiff v. New Classic Home Furnishing, Inc., Defendant
ORDERING PLAINTIFF TO AMENDED CERTIFICATE OF INTERESTED PARTIES
[ECF No. 24]
Cristina D. Silva United States District Judge
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure require that when an action is filed or removed to federal court on the basis of diversity under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a), each party must file a disclosure statement that identifies the citizenship of every individual or entity whose citizenship is attributed to that party. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 7.1(a)(2)(A). Indeed, each party that subsequently appears must file a Rule 7.1 Disclosure Statement with that party's “first appearance, pleading, petition, motion, response, or other request addressed to the court[.]” Fed.R.Civ.P. 7.1(b)(1). Defendant New Classic complied with that requirement on July 10, 2023 (see Certificate of Interested Parties, ECF No. 4), after Magistrate Judge Nancy Koppe issued an order to do so on the same day. See Min. Order, ECF No. 3. However, plaintiff WMCV failed to timely comply. WMCV did not file its certificate of interested parties until August 10, 2023 (see Certificate of Interested Parties, ECF No. 24), after it filed its motion for remand (ECF No. 12), which was filed on July 18, 2023. Further, its certificate fails to identify the citizenship of every individual or entity whose citizenship is attributed to that party. An LLC is a citizen of every state in which its owners or members are citizens. See Johnson v. Columbia Properties Anchorage, LP, 437 F.3d 894, 899 (9th Cir. 2006) (“We therefore join our sister circuits and hold that, like a partnership, an LLC is a citizen of every state of which its owners/members are citizens.”). “Moreover, if any member of [an LLC] is itself a partnership or association (or another LLC), the court needs to know the citizenship of each ‘sub-member' as well.” Diamos v. Specialized Loan Servicing, LLC, 2014 WL 12603136, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 31, 2014). Because this court must determine if it has jurisdiction over this action, WMCV is hereby ordered to file an amended certificate of interested parties that fully complies with Fed.R.Civ.P. 7.1, no later than March 12, 2024.