Sungjin Inc Co., Ltd. v. Bag Studio, LLC
- George Daniels
- 1:19-cv-09496
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Sungjin Inc Co., Ltd. v. Bag Studio, LLC, Magistrate Judge Gorenstein allowed another amendment but required jurisdiction facts about Bag Studio, LLC.
Sungjin Inc Co., Ltd. must file the required affidavit and may file the proposed second amended complaint; the jurisdictional status of Bag Studio, LLC and the alleged role of Kenneth Horowitz remain under review.
What happened
Sungjin Inc Co., Ltd. asked to file a second amended complaint after the court questioned whether it had authority to hear the case. Some defendants argued that the first amended complaint still had jurisdictional problems.
The court granted Sungjin leave to file the proposed second amended complaint. It did not decide whether Kenneth Horowitz’s alleged business relationship with Bag Studio, LLC resolved the jurisdiction issue.
Magistrate Judge Gorenstein ordered Sungjin to file an affidavit by April 7, 2020, stating whether Bag Studio, LLC is a legal entity and, if so, identifying its members, their citizenships, and facts concerning Horowitz’s alleged conduct.
The detailed version
- Sungjin Inc Co., Ltd. v. Bag Studio, LLC · No. 1:19-cv-09496
- George Daniels
- Mar. 18, 2020
Background
On March 3, 2020, the court ordered Sungjin Inc Co., Ltd. to explain why the matter should not be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, meaning the court’s legal authority to hear the dispute. At Sungjin’s request, the court allowed it to file an amended complaint. Sungjin filed its first amended complaint on March 16, 2020. Some defendants then asserted that the amended complaint had the same jurisdictional defects as the original complaint. Sungjin sought leave to file a second amended complaint.
Court’s ruling
The court granted Sungjin leave to file the proposed second amended complaint. The court expressly stated that this ruling did not decide whether the allegation that Kenneth Horowitz was “doing business” as Bag Studio, LLC made Bag Studio’s citizenship irrelevant to the jurisdiction analysis. The court explained that if Horowitz was acting as Bag Studio’s agent, Bag Studio’s citizenship would have to be determined.
Required filing
The court ordered Sungjin to file an affidavit by April 7, 2020, stating whether Bag Studio, LLC is a legal entity. If it is, the affidavit must provide the names and citizenships of each member, explain what facts show that Horowitz acted individually rather than for Bag Studio in the conduct alleged in the second amended complaint, and identify the basis for the affiant’s knowledge. The order did not decide the underlying dispute or finally resolve subject-matter jurisdiction.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.