Langford v. Beck
- Lewis Liman
- 1:20-cv-04980
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Langford v. Beck, Judge Liman denied Beck’s motion to vacate the judgment, finding no sufficient showing that diversity jurisdiction was lacking.
Diana Beck’s request to undo the judgment, writ of assistance, and arbitration award was denied, leaving the prior judgment undisturbed.
What happened
In Langford v. Beck, Diana Beck asked the court to undo the judgment, writ of assistance, and arbitration award after the court had confirmed the award and entered judgment for Laura Langford.
Beck argued that the court lacked authority because the parties were not completely diverse. The court said it could vacate a judgment for that reason only after an exceptional showing that it had plainly acted without jurisdiction. The court found no such showing, noting that the petition identified Langford as a Nevada resident and Beck as a New York resident, and that Langford provided evidence supporting her Nevada residence.
Judge Lewis J. Liman denied Beck’s motion to vacate and her proposed order to show cause. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the related docket entries.
The detailed version
- Langford v. Beck · No. 1:20-cv-04980
- Lewis Liman
- Apr. 12, 2021
Background
The court had previously granted Laura Langford’s petition to confirm an arbitration award and entered judgment for Langford against Diana Beck on October 27, 2020. Beck later filed letters and a proposed order to show cause asking the court to vacate the judgment, the writ of assistance, and the arbitration award. She argued that the court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 because complete diversity was allegedly absent. Langford opposed the request.
Legal standard
The court explained that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(4) allows a court to vacate a judgment as void for lack of jurisdiction. But this is extraordinary relief. The moving party must show that the court plainly usurped jurisdiction or that there was a total absence of jurisdiction with no arguable basis for finding jurisdiction. A judgment cannot be attacked as void merely because the court may have made a factual or legal error about jurisdiction if it had a reasonable basis for exercising jurisdiction.
Court’s analysis
The court found that Beck had not made the required showing. On the face of Langford’s petition, Langford was alleged to be a resident of Nevada and Beck a resident of New York, giving the court at least an arguable basis to conclude that diversity jurisdiction existed.
Beck relied on information from Langford’s social-media account, including references to Germany, to challenge Langford’s Nevada residence. Langford submitted a sworn declaration stating that the social-media information was outdated, that she was living in Las Vegas when the case was filed, and that she had been in Germany for work. She also submitted evidence including a car title, a redacted 2019 federal tax return, and a voter-registration card listing Nevada as her state of residence. The court concluded that Beck had not shown that diversity jurisdiction was lacking, much less that the court had plainly acted without jurisdiction.
Disposition
Judge Lewis J. Liman denied Beck’s motion to vacate and proposed order to show cause. The Clerk of Court was directed to close Docket Nos. 21–23. The opinion addressed the request to vacate for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and did not reconsider the merits of the arbitration award.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.