Ricci v. FVP Investments, LLC
- Rochon
- 1:25-cv-05542
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Ricci v. FVP Investments, Judge Rochon dismissed the case because Joseph Ricci did not adequately allege the LLC’s members’ state citizenship.
Joseph Ricci and FVP Investments, LLC. The case was dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the pleadings did not adequately allege the citizenship of the LLC’s members.
What happened
In Ricci v. FVP Investments, LLC, Joseph Ricci sued FVP Investments, LLC, relying on diversity of citizenship to establish federal jurisdiction. The court found that his original complaint did not properly identify the citizenship of the LLC’s members.
The court gave Ricci several opportunities to amend his complaint. His later filings identified additional alleged members but described them as United States citizens believed to live in New York City, rather than stating the states where they were domiciled. The filings also did not identify all entities or people comprising the LLC.
Judge Jennifer L. Rochon dismissed the Second Amended Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case. The order did not address the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Ricci v. FVP Investments, LLC · No. 1:25-cv-05542
- Rochon
- July 24, 2025
Background
Joseph Ricci filed the action on July 3, 2025, asserting diversity of citizenship as the basis for federal subject matter jurisdiction. The original Complaint alleged the citizenship of FVP Investments, LLC’s managing member but did not identify the citizenship of each person or entity that was a member of the LLC. It also alleged residence rather than citizenship for Ricci and a member.
On July 7, 2025, the court ordered Ricci to amend the Complaint to allege the citizenship of every person or entity comprising FVP Investments, LLC and the citizenship of all individual parties. The court warned that failure to truthfully allege complete diversity by the deadline would result in dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
Amended pleadings
Ricci’s First Amended Complaint alleged that he was domiciled in Rhode Island. It described FVP Investments, LLC as incorporated in Delaware with a principal address in New York and identified Keith Lee as its managing member. The court found that the pleading still did not establish the LLC’s citizenship because it did not identify every member and described Lee as a United States citizen believed to reside in New York City, rather than alleging his state of domicile.
The court then gave Ricci one final opportunity to properly allege the LLC’s citizenship. The Second Amended Complaint identified individuals allegedly serving as members, including Keith Lee, Rakesh Chandiramani, Matt MacDonald, and Matthew Pilkington. It alleged that the members were United States citizens believed to reside in New York City and that none resided in Rhode Island. The court held that these allegations still did not establish their state citizenship. The opinion states that the Second Amended Complaint identified five individuals but lists the four names above.
Ruling
The court dismissed the Second Amended Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because Ricci still had not properly alleged the citizenship of each person or entity comprising FVP Investments, LLC. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the case. The court did not rule on the underlying claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.