STR Systems NY, LLC v. GES Megafour, LLC
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:21-cv-00357
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In STR Systems NY, LLC v. GES Megafour, LLC, Judge Schofield remanded the case to state court because the removal notice lacked required citizenship information.
The order affected STR Systems NY, LLC, GES Megafour, LLC, Defendant Rongche Chen, and the other defendants by returning the case to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Dutchess, instead of allowing it to proceed in federal court.
What happened
STR Systems NY, LLC sued GES Megafour, LLC and others in state court. Defendant Rongche Chen filed a notice removing the case to federal court based on diversity jurisdiction.
The federal court found the removal notice defective because it did not state the citizenship of the partners of either limited liability company at the time the lawsuit began and when the case was removed. The court therefore summarily remanded the matter to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Dutchess, and directed the Clerk to close the federal case.
Judge Lorna G. Schofield issued the order on January 29, 2021. The order addressed only whether removal properly established federal jurisdiction; it did not decide the underlying dispute.
The detailed version
- STR Systems NY, LLC v. GES Megafour, LLC · No. 1:21-cv-00357
- Lorna Schofield
- Jan. 29, 2021
Background
Defendant Rongche Chen filed a Notice of Removal on January 15, 2021, seeking to move the action from state court to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The notice relied on diversity jurisdiction, which generally requires the parties to be citizens of different states. The court stated that diversity must exist both when the state-court action begins and when removal is sought.
Citizenship Information Required
The court explained that, for diversity-jurisdiction purposes, a partnership has the citizenship of all its partners. The Notice of Removal did not allege the citizenships of the partners of plaintiff STR Systems NY, LLC or defendant GES Megafour, LLC at either required time: the commencement of the action and the filing of the Notice of Removal.
Ruling and Disposition
The court held that the Notice of Removal was procedurally defective and ordered that the matter be summarily remanded to state court. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), the Clerk was directed to mail a certified copy of the Opinion and Order to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Dutchess. The Clerk was also directed to close the federal case. The order did not resolve the underlying claims or defenses.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.