NY Stone Manhattan, LLC v. Cowan Logistics, LLC
- Rochon
- 1:23-cv-01159
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In NY Stone Manhattan v. Cowan Logistics, Judge Rochon ordered the plaintiff to disclose ownership information needed to establish diversity jurisdiction.
NY Stone Manhattan, LLC, which was ordered to file a completed Rule 7.1 disclosure statement by February 21, 2023.
What happened
NY Stone Manhattan, LLC v. Cowan Logistics, LLC concerns the plaintiff’s allegation that the federal court had jurisdiction because the parties were citizens of different states. The complaint identified one member of the plaintiff as NL Cohen Acquisition, a Delaware corporation, and described the defendant as a Maryland limited liability company.
The court explained that a limited liability company’s citizenship depends on the citizenship of all its members, including members of entities in its ownership chain. The plaintiff had not filed the required disclosure statement or provided all information needed to determine the parties’ citizenship for diversity jurisdiction.
Judge Jennifer L. Rochon ordered the plaintiff to file a completed Rule 7.1 disclosure statement by February 21, 2023. The order did not decide the underlying dispute between the parties.
The detailed version
- NY Stone Manhattan, LLC v. Cowan Logistics, LLC · No. 1:23-cv-01159
- Rochon
- Feb. 14, 2023
Background
NY Stone Manhattan, LLC filed its complaint on February 13, 2023. The complaint alleged that the court had subject-matter jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship. It alleged that NY Stone Manhattan was a limited liability company and that one of its two members was “NL Cohen Acquisition, a Delaware corporation.” It also alleged that Cowan Logistics, LLC was a “foreign limited liability corporation” incorporated in Maryland with its principal place of business in Maryland.
Jurisdictional disclosure requirement
The court explained that a corporation is generally a citizen of both its state of incorporation and the state where it has its principal place of business. A limited liability company is a citizen of every state in which its members are citizens. If an LLC member is another non-corporate entity, the party invoking diversity jurisdiction must identify and allege the citizenship of the members throughout the ownership chain, up to every individual and corporation with a direct or indirect interest in the LLC.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 7.1 requires a party to file a disclosure statement with its first appearance or pleading. The court found that NY Stone Manhattan had not filed the required statement and had not provided all information necessary to establish diversity jurisdiction.
Order
The court ordered NY Stone Manhattan to file a completed Rule 7.1 Disclosure Statement by February 21, 2023. The statement had to include the information necessary to establish subject-matter jurisdiction based on diversity. The order addressed jurisdictional disclosures and did not decide the parties’ underlying dispute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.