Robinson v. Morgan
- Lewis Kaplan
- 1:22-cv-03711
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Robinson v. Morgan, Judge Kaplan ordered an amended complaint by May 16, 2022, or the action will be dismissed for inadequate jurisdiction allegations.
Lorenzo Robinson must file an amended complaint adequately alleging subject-matter jurisdiction by May 16, 2022, or the action will be dismissed. Warren Morgan and the other defendant are affected because the case may end without reaching the underlying claims.
What happened
Lorenzo Robinson sued Warren Morgan and another defendant in Robinson v. Morgan, invoking the court’s authority to hear disputes between citizens of different states. The court found that the complaint did not adequately allege facts establishing that authority.
The order identified possible gaps involving the citizenship of individuals, corporations, partnerships, or other business entities, as well as the nature and citizenship of business entities and the timely removal of the case from state court. The opinion does not explain which specific allegations were missing.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan gave Robinson until May 16, 2022, to file an amended complaint adequately alleging subject-matter jurisdiction. The court stated that the action will be dismissed if that filing is not made by the deadline.
The detailed version
- Robinson v. Morgan · No. 1:22-cv-03711
- Lewis Kaplan
- May 9, 2022
Background
The complaint invoked federal jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, the statute that permits federal courts to hear certain disputes involving citizens of different states. The order states that the complaint failed adequately to allege the existence of subject-matter jurisdiction, meaning the court’s legal power to hear the case.
Jurisdictional deficiencies
The order lists inadequate allegations concerning the citizenship of one or more natural persons; the citizenship of one or more corporations; the citizenship of one or more partnerships; the nature and citizenship of one or more business entities; and the timely removal of the action from state court. The text does not specify which of these listed issues applies to which defendant or whether each listed issue is present.
Ruling and deadline
The court did not enter a dismissal in this order. Instead, it ordered that the action will be dismissed unless an amended complaint adequately alleging subject-matter jurisdiction is filed on or before May 16, 2022. The order does not address the underlying claims or their merits.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.