Innovius, LLC v. Sharp Corporation
- Analisa Torres
- 1:21-cv-00906
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Innovius v. Sharp, Judge Torres ordered Innovius to amend its complaint to identify LLC members’ citizenship or face dismissal for lack of jurisdiction.
Innovius, LLC must amend its complaint to provide the required citizenship allegations. Sharp Corporation is the defendant in the case and would be affected if the complaint is later dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
What happened
Innovius, LLC sued Sharp Corporation in federal court, claiming diversity of citizenship as the basis for federal jurisdiction. The opinion does not describe the underlying dispute.
The court said that, because Innovius is a limited liability company, its complaint must identify the citizenship of every person or entity that is a member. The court ordered Innovius to amend its complaint by February 12, 2021, and warned that failure to truthfully allege complete diversity would result in dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
Judge Analisa Torres issued the order. The court did not decide the underlying dispute; it addressed whether the complaint adequately established federal jurisdiction.
The detailed version
- Innovius, LLC v. Sharp Corporation · No. 1:21-cv-00906
- Analisa Torres
- Feb. 5, 2021
Background
Innovius, LLC filed the case against Sharp Corporation in federal court on February 2, 2021. Innovius invoked diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The opinion does not state the claims underlying the dispute.
Jurisdictional pleading requirement
The court explained that if Innovius is a limited liability company, the complaint must allege the citizenship of each of its members. For individual members, the complaint must identify their citizenship. For corporate members, it must identify the state of incorporation and principal place of business. The court cited Second Circuit and Southern District of New York authority stating that a limited liability company has the citizenship of each of its members.
Order
The court ordered Innovius to amend its pleading by February 12, 2021, to allege the citizenship of every constituent person or entity. The court stated that if Innovius failed to amend by that date to truthfully allege complete diversity, the complaint would be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The order did not decide the merits of the underlying dispute and did not dismiss the complaint at that time.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.