PIRS Capital, LLC v. Arnold's Office Furniture, LLC
- Jesse Furman
- 1:23-cv-00091
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In PIRS Capital v. Arnold’s Office Furniture, Judge Furman ordered Berkowitz to correct the removal notice or face remand for lack of jurisdiction.
Jay Berkowitz was required to amend the notice of removal. The case could be remanded for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction if he could not truthfully establish complete diversity of citizenship.
What happened
PIRS Capital, LLC sued Arnold’s Office Furniture, LLC and Jay Berkowitz, who removed the case to federal court based on alleged diversity of citizenship. The removal notice identified some members’ residences but did not fully state the citizenship of the relevant limited-liability-company members.
The court explained that an LLC’s citizenship comes from each of its members and that residence alone does not establish citizenship. The notice also did not affirmatively state PIRS Capital’s citizenship.
Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered Berkowitz to amend the notice by January 16, 2023, to truthfully identify the citizenship of every relevant LLC member. The court stated that the case would be remanded for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction if he could not establish complete diversity.
The detailed version
- PIRS Capital, LLC v. Arnold's Office Furniture, LLC · No. 1:23-cv-00091
- Jesse Furman
- Jan. 9, 2023
Background
Jay Berkowitz removed the action brought by PIRS Capital, LLC, asserting federal subject-matter jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship. The notice of removal stated that members of Arnold’s Office Furniture Holdings, LLC were Jay Berkowitz, described as a New Jersey resident, and Jordan Berkowitz, described as a Pennsylvania resident. It also stated, based only on information and belief, that PIRS Capital had no members in Pennsylvania or New Jersey.
Court’s analysis
The court explained that a limited liability company is a citizen of every state of which its members are citizens. A notice relying on diversity jurisdiction must therefore identify the citizenship of each person or entity composing the relevant LLCs, including members that are themselves LLCs. The court also held that residence is not enough to establish citizenship and that citizenship must be affirmatively alleged. The notice failed to identify the citizenship of each member of the relevant LLCs and failed to affirmatively plead PIRS Capital’s citizenship.
Ruling
The court ordered Berkowitz to amend the notice of removal by January 16, 2023, to affirmatively allege the citizenship of every constituent person or entity relevant to jurisdiction. The court stated that, if Berkowitz could not truthfully allege complete diversity of citizenship by that deadline, the case would be remanded for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction without further notice.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.