A.S. v. Connecticut Power Fit Expo LLC
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:22-cv-06223
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In A.S. v. Connecticut Power Fit Expo LLC, Judge Briccetti ordered plaintiff’s counsel to identify an LLC’s members and citizenships to assess diversity jurisdiction.
A.S. and his counsel, who were required to provide information about the LLC defendants’ members and citizenships; the defendants were affected because the information would determine whether the federal court had jurisdiction.
What happened
In A.S. v. Connecticut Power Fit Expo LLC, A.S. brought a lawsuit against several defendants, invoking federal jurisdiction based on the parties’ citizenships.
A.S. alleged that he was a New York citizen and described Britos Martial Arts, LLC, as organized and operating in New York. The court explained that an LLC’s citizenship depends on the citizenship of its members, not its place of organization or principal place of business.
The court ordered A.S.’s counsel to identify Britos’s members and their citizenships by July 28, 2022. If counsel showed Britos was not a New York citizen, counsel also had to provide that information for two other LLC defendants. Judge Vincent L. Briccetti did not decide the case’s merits.
The detailed version
- A.S. v. Connecticut Power Fit Expo LLC · No. 7:22-cv-06223
- Vincent Briccetti
- July 26, 2022
Background
A.S., identified in the caption as a child suing through his mother and natural guardian, brought the action against J.M., Daniel Jenkins, Connecticut Power Fit Expo LLC, Anthony Cogliandro, Donald Rodrigues, Krane Ratings Inc., Black Dragon Martial Arts, LLC, and Britos Martial Arts, LLC. The complaint relied on diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, which requires every plaintiff to be a citizen of a different state from every defendant.
Jurisdictional issue
The opinion states that A.S. alleged he was a citizen of New York. It also states that the complaint described Britos Martial Arts, LLC, as incorporated in New York and having its principal place of business in Wingdale, New York. The court explained that those facts do not determine an LLC’s citizenship. Instead, an LLC has the citizenship of each of its members.
Because the complaint did not identify Britos’s members or their citizenships, the court could not determine whether complete diversity existed. The court stated that the apparent lack of complete diversity would require dismissal, but it did not make that determination based on the information then available.
Order
The court ordered plaintiff’s counsel to submit a letter by July 28, 2022, identifying Britos’s members and their citizenships. If counsel demonstrated that Britos was not a New York citizen, counsel also had to identify the members and citizenships of Connecticut Power Fit Expo LLC and Black Dragon Martial Arts, LLC. The order addressed whether the court had subject matter jurisdiction and did not resolve the underlying claims. Judge Vincent L. Briccetti signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.