S & P Investment Group, LLC v. Kingdom Materials Holdings LLC
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:20-cv-02112
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In S & P Investment Group v. Kingdom Materials Holdings, Judge Abrams ordered S & P to explain whether it will pursue Kingdom Resources and provide membership citizenship information.
S & P Investment Group, LLC, and Kingdom Resources, LLC; the order also concerns whether the court can determine diversity jurisdiction over the action.
What happened
In S & P Investment Group, LLC v. Kingdom Materials Holdings LLC, the court addressed missing information about Defendant Kingdom Resources, LLC. Kingdom Resources had not participated in the case, while Kingdom Materials Holdings said the two defendants were not affiliated and had already provided information about its own members’ citizenship.
The court ordered Plaintiff S & P Investment Group, LLC, to submit a letter by February 5, 2021, stating whether it considered Kingdom Resources a party and whether it intended to pursue claims against that defendant. If S & P intended to proceed, it had to provide the citizenship of each Kingdom Resources member so the court could determine whether diversity jurisdiction existed.
Judge Ronnie Abrams also reminded S & P that this was the court’s second attempt to obtain the information and warned that failing to follow the order could result in sanctions. The order did not decide the parties’ underlying claims.
The detailed version
- S & P Investment Group, LLC v. Kingdom Materials Holdings LLC · No. 1:20-cv-02112
- Ronnie Abrams
- Jan. 28, 2021
Background
On December 18, 2020, the court ordered the parties to provide a letter describing the citizenship of each member of their limited liability companies. Kingdom Resources, LLC, did not comply. Kingdom Materials Holdings LLC had already provided the required information about its members and told the court that it was not affiliated with Kingdom Resources.
The court also noted that Kingdom Resources appeared not to have participated in the litigation. No attorney had appeared for Kingdom Resources, and it had not filed documents or responded to court orders.
Order
The court ordered Plaintiff S & P Investment Group, LLC, to advise how it intended to proceed against Kingdom Resources. By February 5, 2021, S & P had to explain whether it considered Kingdom Resources a party and whether it intended to pursue claims against it.
If S & P intended to proceed against Kingdom Resources, it had to provide the citizenship of each of Kingdom Resources’ members. The court required that information to determine whether it had diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Diversity jurisdiction generally requires every plaintiff to have different citizenship from every defendant, and an LLC’s citizenship is based on the citizenship of its members.
Disposition
Judge Ronnie Abrams issued an order directing S & P to provide the requested explanation and, if applicable, the membership-citizenship information. The court reminded S & P that this was its second attempt to obtain the information and stated that failure to comply with the order could result in sanctions. The order did not resolve the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.