Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. v. RCM Living Holdings, LLC
- Rochon
- 1:24-cv-05865
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Oppenheimer v. RCM, Judge Rochon ordered citizenship details amended before possible jurisdictional dismissal.
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. must provide additional allegations about the citizenship of RCM Living Holdings, LLC’s members and related ownership entities. The case could be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction if complete diversity cannot truthfully be alleged.
What happened
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. sued RCM Living Holdings, LLC, claiming that the court could hear the dispute because the parties were citizens of different states.
The complaint identified some states associated with RCM and two LLCs that were members of RCM, but it did not identify the citizenship of those LLCs’ members. The court said this information was necessary to determine RCM’s citizenship.
Judge Jennifer L. Rochon ordered Oppenheimer to amend its complaint by August 26, 2024, to provide the missing information. If Oppenheimer could not truthfully allege complete diversity, the court said the complaint would be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
The detailed version
- Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. v. RCM Living Holdings, LLC · No. 1:24-cv-05865
- Rochon
- Aug. 5, 2024
Background
Oppenheimer brought the action against RCM and invoked federal subject matter jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Oppenheimer alleged that it was a citizen of New York and that RCM was a citizen of Delaware, Texas, Michigan, California, Florida, and South Dakota.
Citizenship Allegations
The court explained that an LLC is a citizen of every state of which its members are citizens. When an LLC has other LLCs as members, the complaint must identify the citizenship of the members of those LLCs and continue through the ownership chain until it identifies the citizenship of every relevant individual and corporation.
The complaint alleged the state of incorporation and principal place of business of two LLC members of RCM—PPRE Services, LLC and Prete RE Investors, LLC—but did not allege the citizenship of those entities’ members. The court therefore concluded that Oppenheimer had not properly alleged RCM’s citizenship.
Order
The court ordered Oppenheimer to amend the complaint by August 26, 2024, to allege the citizenship of each person or entity comprising RCM, including the members of any LLCs that are members of RCM. The order states that if Oppenheimer cannot truthfully amend the complaint to allege complete diversity of citizenship, the complaint will be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction without further notice.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.