JMG Group LLC v. Sasso
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:20-cv-08520
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In JMG Group LLC v. Sasso, Judge Engelmayer granted leave to amend so the plaintiff could properly allege citizenship needed for federal jurisdiction.
JMG Group LLC must amend its complaint to identify the citizenship of the relevant members and partners; the ruling also concerns Anthony Sasso and Artisan Capital Partners because their citizenship is part of the jurisdictional analysis.
What happened
JMG Group LLC v. Sasso began when JMG Group LLC relied on the parties’ alleged citizenship as the sole basis for federal jurisdiction. The complaint did not identify the citizenship of the LLC’s members or the partners of Artisan Capital Partners.
The court had previously directed the plaintiff to provide that information, but the plaintiff’s response did not identify the relevant members or partners. Without those details, the court could not determine whether the parties had diverse citizenship.
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer granted the plaintiff leave to amend its complaint by November 16, 2020, to provide the required information. The order stated that if the plaintiff could not truthfully allege complete diversity, the complaint would be dismissed, without prejudice, for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
The detailed version
- JMG Group LLC v. Sasso · No. 1:20-cv-08520
- Paul Engelmayer
- Nov. 4, 2020
Background
JMG Group LLC filed the complaint relying solely on diversity of citizenship as the basis for federal subject-matter jurisdiction. The complaint alleged that the plaintiff was a citizen of North Carolina and that the defendants were citizens of New York. The court noted, however, that the citizenship of a limited liability company depends on the citizenship of each of its members, and the citizenship of a partnership depends on the citizenship of each of its partners.
The court had previously ordered the plaintiff to explain in detail the citizenship of every party, including constituent members. The plaintiff’s response stated that JMG Group LLC was a citizen of North Carolina and that Joyti Patel, described as the titular head of the corporate plaintiff, was a citizen of North Carolina. It did not identify all members of JMG Group LLC or the partners of Artisan Capital Partners. The court therefore could not determine whether diversity jurisdiction existed.
Required Amendment
The court directed the plaintiff to file an amended complaint alleging the citizenship of all natural-person members of JMG Group LLC and all natural-person members of the defendant partnership. The amended complaint also had to state the place of incorporation and principal place of business of any corporate entities that were members of the LLC or partners of the partnership.
Ruling
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer granted the plaintiff leave to amend under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(2). The amendment was due by November 16, 2020. The court stated that if the plaintiff could not truthfully allege complete diversity based on the citizenship of every relevant person or entity, the complaint would be dismissed, without prejudice, for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The order did not dismiss the complaint at that time.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.