Rivera-Umpierre v. BKH Acquisition Holdco I, LLC
- P. Castel
- 1:22-cv-01667
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Rivera-Umpierre v. BKH, Judge Castel ordered facts needed to establish diversity jurisdiction and required amendment within 30 days or dismissal.
Agnes Rivera-Umpierre must obtain and plead the required citizenship information; BKH Acquisition Holdco I, LLC must respond to the limited interrogatory if served. The action may be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction if the complaint is not amended within 30 days.
What happened
In Rivera-Umpierre v. BKH Acquisition Holdco I, LLC, Agnes Rivera-Umpierre brought the case based on diversity of citizenship. The complaint did not state the citizenship of the members of defendant BKH Acquisition Holdco I, LLC, which the court said was required to determine jurisdiction.
The court allowed Rivera-Umpierre to send the LLC a limited question about the citizenship of its members. The LLC must respond within seven days. Rivera-Umpierre must amend the complaint within 30 days to provide the required citizenship information, or the action will be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
Judge P. Castel issued the order on March 8, 2022. The order addressed only whether the court had authority to hear the case and did not decide the underlying dispute.
The detailed version
- Rivera-Umpierre v. BKH Acquisition Holdco I, LLC · No. 1:22-cv-01667
- P. Castel
- Mar. 8, 2022
Background
Agnes Rivera-Umpierre brought the action against BKH Acquisition Holdco I, LLC and BKH Acquisition Corp., invoking federal jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The court explained that when a limited liability company is a party in a diversity case, the complaint must identify the citizenship of every member of the LLC. For individual members, that means their state or country of citizenship. For corporate members, it means the state or other jurisdiction of incorporation and the corporation’s principal place of business.
Court’s Analysis
The complaint did not allege the citizenship of the persons and entities that are members of BKH Acquisition Holdco I, LLC. Because that information was necessary to determine whether diversity jurisdiction existed, the court addressed the issue at the outset of the case.
Order
Within seven days of the order, Rivera-Umpierre may serve BKH Acquisition Holdco I, LLC with an interrogatory limited to the citizenship of all of the LLC’s members. The LLC must respond within seven days after receiving the interrogatory. Within 30 days of the order, Rivera-Umpierre must amend the complaint to allege the citizenship of each constituent member of the LLC, or the action will be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
Judge P. Castel did not decide the underlying claims or defenses. This was a procedural order concerning the court’s jurisdiction.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.