Accordion Partners LLC v. The Home For Little Wanderers, Inc.

Background

Accordion Partners LLC filed its complaint on May 23, 2025, invoking diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Diversity jurisdiction allows a federal court to hear certain disputes between citizens of different states when the statutory requirements are met. The complaint alleged that Accordion Partners was a New York limited liability company located in New York, New York, and that The Home For Little Wanderers, Inc. was a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation located in Boston, Massachusetts.

Jurisdictional Deficiency

The court explained that a limited liability company takes the citizenship of each of its members. It also explained that a corporation is treated as a citizen of its state of incorporation and the state of its principal place of business. The complaint alleged only the parties’ places of organization and where they were located. It did not allege the citizenship of Accordion Partners’ members or the parties’ citizenship as required to establish diversity jurisdiction.

The court also noted that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 7.1(a)(2) requires a party in a diversity case to file a disclosure identifying every individual or entity whose citizenship is attributed to that party and stating that individual’s or entity’s citizenship.

Order

The court ordered Accordion Partners to amend its complaint no later than August 18, 2025, to allege the citizenship of each of its members and of The Home For Little Wanderers, Inc. If Accordion Partners failed to amend by that date or otherwise properly establish jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(2), the court stated that it would dismiss the action for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction without further notice. The order did not decide the underlying dispute between the parties.