Pusztaszeri v. Consigli & Associates, LLC
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:21-cv-01462
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Pusztaszeri v. Consigli, Judge Engelmayer ordered an amended complaint identifying every LLC member’s citizenship to establish diversity jurisdiction.
The order affects Adam Pusztaszeri and the two defendant LLCs by requiring a jurisdictional amendment before the case can proceed in federal court.
What happened
In Pusztaszeri v. Consigli & Associates, LLC, Adam Pusztaszeri relied on diversity of citizenship as the only basis for federal jurisdiction. The court found that the complaint did not identify the citizenship of all members of the defendant limited liability companies.
The court explained that an LLC has the citizenship of each of its members. It required the complaint to identify the citizenship of individual members and, for corporate members, their incorporation state and principal place of business.
Judge Engelmayer granted Pusztaszeri permission to file an amended complaint by March 3, 2021. The court said the complaint would be dismissed without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction if Pusztaszeri could not truthfully establish complete diversity.
The detailed version
- Pusztaszeri v. Consigli & Associates, LLC · No. 1:21-cv-01462
- Paul Engelmayer
- Feb. 19, 2021
Background
Adam Pusztaszeri filed the complaint on February 18, 2021, asserting diversity of citizenship as the sole basis for federal jurisdiction. The defendants are Consigli & Associates, LLC, and One Beekman Owner, LLC.
The court noted that both defendants are limited liability companies. For diversity purposes, an LLC has the citizenship of each of its members. The complaint alleged that the defendants were organized under New York law and had their principal places of business in New York, and it alleged the citizenship of one member of each LLC. It did not, however, allege the citizenship of all members.
Court’s Analysis
The court required an amended complaint alleging the citizenship of every LLC member. For individual members, the amended complaint must state their citizenship. For corporate members, it must state the entity’s place of incorporation and principal place of business. These allegations were necessary for the court to determine whether complete diversity existed.
The court warned that if Pusztaszeri could not truthfully allege complete diversity based on the citizenship of every constituent person or entity, the complaint would be dismissed without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
Ruling
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer granted Pusztaszeri leave to amend the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(2). The amended complaint was due by March 3, 2021. The order did not dismiss the complaint at that time.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.