Obra Pia Ltd. v. Seagrape Investors LLC
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:19-cv-07840
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Obra Pia v. Seagrape, Judge Abrams ordered Seagrape to clarify its members’ citizenship because its diversity-jurisdiction allegations were incomplete.
Seagrape Investors LLC was required to clarify the citizenship of its members, state whether Edward Mullen was its only member, and provide supporting documentation by September 11, 2020. The order addressed the jurisdictional allegations in both related actions.
What happened
Obra Pia Ltd. v. Seagrape Investors LLC involved two related actions in which Seagrape relied on diversity jurisdiction, including after defendants removed the Obra Pia action to federal court. Seagrape described itself as a Florida limited liability company and identified Florida connections, but it did not adequately identify all of its members.
The court explained that a limited liability company has the citizenship of each of its members for diversity-jurisdiction purposes. That requires identifying the citizenship of individual members and, if any members are entities, the relevant details for those entities.
Judge Ronnie Abrams ordered Seagrape to file a letter by September 11, 2020, clarifying the citizenship of each person or entity that made up Seagrape Investors LLC, stating whether Edward Mullen was its only member, and providing supporting documents. The order did not dismiss or remand either action.
The detailed version
- Obra Pia Ltd. v. Seagrape Investors LLC · No. 1:19-cv-07840
- Ronnie Abrams
- Sept. 9, 2020
Background
The order concerns two related actions: the Obra Pia Action, No. 19-cv-7840, and the Seagrape Action, No. 19-cv-9736. Seagrape Investors LLC and Edward V. Mullen removed the Obra Pia Action to the Southern District of New York based on diversity jurisdiction. Seagrape also filed the Seagrape Action in that court, relying in part on diversity jurisdiction.
In the filings, Seagrape stated that it was a limited liability company organized under Florida law with its place of business in Florida. It also stated that it was wholly owned by another Florida limited liability company, which was in turn owned by two Florida trusts. The opinion states that Seagrape did not adequately allege the identity and citizenship of the members of Seagrape Investors LLC in either action.
Court’s analysis
For diversity jurisdiction, a limited liability company has the citizenship of each of its members. The citizenship inquiry therefore depends on the citizenship of any individual members and, for any corporate members, the corporation’s place of incorporation and principal place of business. The court concluded that the existing filings did not provide enough information to determine Seagrape’s citizenship for this purpose.
Order
The court ordered Seagrape to file, no later than September 11, 2020, a letter clarifying the citizenship of every person or entity that was a constituent member of Seagrape Investors LLC. Seagrape also had to state whether it had any members other than Edward Mullen and submit supporting documentation concerning its members. The order did not state that either action was dismissed or remanded.
Judge Ronnie Abrams signed the order on September 9, 2020.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.