JMG Group LLC v. Sasso

Background

JMG Group LLC filed the action asserting diversity of citizenship as the sole basis for federal subject-matter jurisdiction. The court had previously directed JMG Group to explain the citizenship of every party, including the constituent members of the LLC and the constituent members of Artisan Capital Partners.

JMG Group’s initial response did not identify the LLC’s members or Artisan Capital Partners’ partners. The court then ordered JMG Group to file an amended complaint alleging the citizenship of the relevant individuals or entities and warned that the action would be dismissed without prejudice if it could not do so.

Amended Complaint

The amended complaint did not cure the jurisdictional defect. For JMG Group, it listed the principal place of business and state of incorporation and stated that Joyte Patel was a citizen and domiciliary of North Carolina, but it did not identify the citizenship of JMG Group’s members. For Artisan Capital Partners, it did not identify the partnership’s partners or other constituent members. The court stated that this information was insufficient to establish diversity jurisdiction.

Ruling

The court dismissed the action without prejudice because JMG Group had not pleaded facts sufficient to establish subject-matter jurisdiction. The court expressly did not find that the parties were nondiverse. It stated that the dismissal did not prevent JMG Group from filing the action again, with good-faith allegations concerning the citizenship of each constituent member, in a court with jurisdiction. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the case.