Orlando v. Nxt-ID, Inc.
- Vyskocil
- 1:20-cv-01604
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Orlando v. Nxt-ID, Inc., Judge Vyskocil ordered jurisdictional filings and denied Nxt-ID’s motion to strike without prejudice to renewal.
The order affected Michael Orlando, the other Fit Pay stockholders represented by him, and defendants Nxt-ID Inc., CrowdOut Capital, LLC, and Garmin International, Inc. It imposed jurisdictional and case-management requirements on the parties, particularly requiring information about CrowdOut’s citizenship and the citizenship of the represented stockholders.
What happened
In Orlando v. Nxt-ID, Inc., the court required the plaintiff to provide more information about the parties’ citizenship so the court could determine whether it had diversity jurisdiction, meaning authority to hear the case based on the parties’ citizenships.
The plaintiff had to file a revised complaint addressing CrowdOut Capital LLC’s citizenship or face dismissal of the claims against CrowdOut for lack of jurisdiction. The parties also had to brief whether the citizenship of the other Fit Pay stockholders represented by Michael Orlando must be considered.
The court also set case-management, settlement-discussion, and counterclaim-motion deadlines. Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil denied Nxt-ID’s motion to strike without prejudice to renewal, meaning Nxt-ID could renew it later.
The detailed version
- Orlando v. Nxt-ID, Inc. · No. 1:20-cv-01604
- Vyskocil
- July 24, 2020
Background
The court held an initial pretrial conference and a pre-motion conference on July 23, 2020. The opinion addresses the court’s obligation to examine whether subject-matter jurisdiction exists. The case caption identifies Michael Orlando and the other stockholders of Fit Pay, Inc., with Orlando acting as Shareholder Representative, as plaintiffs. The defendants are Nxt-ID Inc., CrowdOut Capital, LLC, and Garmin International, Inc.
Jurisdictional Orders
The court explained that, for diversity jurisdiction, an LLC’s citizenship depends on the citizenship of its members. It ordered the plaintiff to file a Second Amended Complaint by July 30, 2020, properly alleging CrowdOut Capital LLC’s citizenship. The court stated that it would dismiss the plaintiff’s claims against CrowdOut for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction if the required filing was not made.
The court also ordered the parties to brief by July 30, 2020, whether the citizenship of the “other stockholders of Fit Pay, Inc.” must be considered for diversity-jurisdiction purposes because Orlando purported to bring the case as Shareholder Representative.
Other Orders
The parties had to file a joint status letter and a new proposed case-management plan by August 7, 2020. Before filing those materials, they had to confer about settlement for at least one hour.
The court deemed made and denied without prejudice to renewal Nxt-ID’s motion to strike allegations in the First Amended Complaint under Rule 12(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The opinion does not state that the court ruled on the merits of the underlying claims.
The court also directed the plaintiff to file the contemplated motion to dismiss Nxt-ID’s counterclaims by August 13, 2020. Nxt-ID’s response was due September 3, 2020, and the plaintiff’s reply was due September 17, 2020. Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil signed the order on July 24, 2020.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.