Estate of Silvestre Quebrado v. Macquarie Corporate and Asset Funding, Inc.

Background

The plaintiffs are the Estate of Silvestre Quebrado, represented by Thalia Quebrado, Thalia Quebrado, Delia Quebrado, Jorge Quebrado, Shelia Quebrado, Luisa Aguilar, and Luisa Aguilar on behalf of minor L.Q. The opinion states that the plaintiffs appeared without lawyers and asserted claims under the court’s diversity jurisdiction. They alleged that events occurring in Houston, Texas, caused Silvestre Quebrado’s death.

The defendants were Macquarie Corporate and Asset Funding, Inc.; Macquarie Equipment Capital, Inc.; EquipmentShare.Com, Inc.; Terex South Dakota, Inc.; and Terex USA, LLC. The plaintiffs described the defendants as Delaware entities with principal places of business in New York, Missouri, or Connecticut.

Venue Analysis

Venue is the proper federal court location for a case. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), venue may generally be proper where all defendants reside within the same state and at least one resides in the district, where a substantial part of the events occurred, or, if neither applies, where a defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction.

The court found that the plaintiffs had not alleged facts showing that all defendants resided in New York and that at least one defendant resided in the Southern District of New York. Venue therefore was not proper there under § 1391(b)(1). The court also found that the plaintiffs had not alleged that a substantial part of the events occurred in the Southern District of New York, so venue was not proper there under § 1391(b)(2).

The plaintiffs did allege that the events occurred on January 21, 2020, in Houston. The court noted that Houston is within the Southern District of Texas, making venue proper there under § 1391(b)(2).

Ruling

Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk of Court to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), which permits transfer when venue is improper. The order states that the transferee court would decide whether the plaintiffs could proceed without prepaying fees. Summonses were not to issue from the Southern District of New York, and the order closed the action in that court.

The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The opinion does not state what action the Southern District of Texas later took.