eCapital LLC v. 848 Global LLC
- Philip Halpern
- 7:20-cv-00244
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In eCapital v. 848 Global, Judge Briccetti ordered more information about citizenship before deciding whether federal jurisdiction exists.
eCapital LLC, 848 Global LLC, Eliakim Omar Johnson, and eCapital’s counsel were affected because the court required additional information about each party’s citizenship before determining whether it had subject matter jurisdiction.
What happened
eCapital LLC sued 848 Global LLC and Eliakim Omar Johnson, invoking federal diversity jurisdiction, which generally requires every plaintiff to be a citizen of a different state from every defendant. The complaint described the companies as Nevada and New York LLCs and Johnson as a New York resident.
The court explained that an LLC’s citizenship depends on the citizenship of each member, and that residence alone does not establish an individual’s citizenship for this purpose. The complaint did not identify the members’ citizenships or adequately establish Johnson’s citizenship.
The court ordered eCapital’s lawyer to submit, by January 21, 2020, a detailed letter explaining every party’s citizenship so the court could determine whether it had jurisdiction to decide the claims. The order was signed by United States District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti.
The detailed version
- eCapital LLC v. 848 Global LLC · No. 7:20-cv-00244
- Philip Halpern
- Jan. 14, 2020
Background
eCapital LLC brought an action against 848 Global LLC and Eliakim Omar Johnson. The complaint invoked diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a), which can allow a federal court to hear a dispute involving citizens of different states.
Jurisdictional issue
For complete diversity, every plaintiff must be a citizen of a different state from every defendant. An individual’s citizenship is ordinarily based on domicile—the person’s true, fixed home and principal place of establishment—not residence alone. A limited liability company has the citizenship of each of its members.
The complaint alleged that eCapital LLC was a Nevada LLC and that 848 Global LLC was a New York LLC, but it did not allege the citizenship of either company’s members. The complaint also alleged that Johnson was a resident of New York, but the court explained that residence alone was insufficient to establish his citizenship for diversity purposes.
Order
The court ordered eCapital’s counsel to submit a letter by January 21, 2020, explaining in detail the citizenship of every party. The court did not decide in this order whether subject matter jurisdiction existed or reach the merits of eCapital’s claims. The order was signed by United States District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.