N47 Associates LLC v. Alba Services Inc.
- Vyskocil
- 1:21-cv-03490
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
N47 Associates v. Alba Services: Judge Vyskocil dismissed the complaint without prejudice for inadequate jurisdiction allegations and allowed plaintiffs to amend.
The plaintiffs’ complaint was dismissed without prejudice, and the plaintiffs were given until June 19, 2021, to amend the jurisdictional allegations. The defendants were not subject to a merits ruling.
What happened
In N47 Associates LLC v. Alba Services Inc., the plaintiffs relied on diversity jurisdiction, which allows federal courts to hear certain disputes between citizens of different states. They described the parties’ formation, authorization, or licensing in various states but did not provide all information required to establish diversity.
The court found that the complaint did not identify the citizenship of N47 Associates LLC’s members. It also did not state the principal places of business of several corporate parties, including New York Marine and General Insurance Company, Inc., Alba Services Inc., and Accredited Surety and Casualty Co., Inc.
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil dismissed the complaint without prejudice because the court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction and allowed the plaintiffs to file an amended complaint by June 19, 2021. The order states that failing to amend by that date would result in dismissal of all claims without prejudice and without leave to amend.
The detailed version
- N47 Associates LLC v. Alba Services Inc. · No. 1:21-cv-03490
- Vyskocil
- May 19, 2021
Background
The plaintiffs filed the complaint on April 22, 2021, asserting federal subject-matter jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The complaint alleged that N47 Associates LLC was incorporated in Delaware and authorized to conduct business in New York; that New York Marine and General Insurance Company, Inc. was incorporated in New Jersey and authorized to conduct business in New York; that Alba Services Inc. was authorized to conduct business in New York; and that Accredited Surety and Casualty Co., Inc. was a Florida corporation authorized and licensed to conduct insurance business in New York.
Jurisdictional Defects
The court explained that diversity jurisdiction requires complete diversity between every plaintiff and every defendant. For an LLC, citizenship is determined by the citizenship of each member. The complaint did not identify N47 Associates LLC’s members or their citizenship.
The court also explained that a corporation is a citizen of both its state of incorporation and its principal place of business. The complaint did not identify the principal places of business of New York Marine and General Insurance Company, Inc., Alba Services Inc., or Accredited Surety and Casualty Co., Inc. The court stated that merely alleging where an entity is authorized or licensed to do business does not establish its citizenship for diversity purposes.
Disposition
The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice because it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. Because the court identified the jurisdictional issue on its own, it granted the plaintiffs leave to amend and ordered them to file an amended complaint by June 19, 2021. The order states that failure to meet that deadline would result in dismissal of all claims without prejudice and without leave to amend.
Effect of the Order
The order addressed only the adequacy of the jurisdictional allegations. It did not decide the merits of the plaintiffs’ underlying claims. The opinion does not describe those claims in detail.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.