Thieriot v. Laggner
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:23-cv-01875
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Thieriot v. Laggner, Judge Schofield ordered Laggner to correct the removal notice’s citizenship allegations.
Bill Laggner was ordered to amend the notice of removal; the order also affects Juan Pablo Thieriot because it concerns whether the removed case’s federal jurisdiction was properly alleged.
What happened
In Thieriot v. Laggner, Juan Pablo Thieriot filed the action in New York state court, and Bill Laggner later moved it to federal court. The removal notice described the parties’ residences but did not state their citizenship when the case began and when it was removed.
The court explained that residence alone does not establish citizenship for federal jurisdiction. It also said that a party may generally correct this kind of technical defect.
Judge Lorna G. Schofield ordered Laggner to file an amended notice of removal by March 9, 2023, properly stating the basis for federal jurisdiction.
The detailed version
- Thieriot v. Laggner · No. 1:23-cv-01875
- Lorna Schofield
- Mar. 7, 2023
Background
Juan Pablo Thieriot filed the action in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, on February 3, 2023. On March 3, 2023, Bill Laggner filed a timely notice removing the case to the Southern District of New York.
Jurisdictional Allegations
The notice of removal stated that Thieriot was a resident of California and Florida and that Laggner was a resident of Texas. The state-court complaint stated that Thieriot resided in Florida and Laggner resided in Texas. The notice did not state the parties’ citizenship at the time the action began and at the time of removal.
The court explained that allegations of residence alone cannot establish citizenship, which can be necessary to establish federal diversity jurisdiction. The court also stated that when the basis for jurisdiction is not properly alleged, a party should generally be allowed to correct the technical defect.
Order
Judge Lorna G. Schofield ordered Laggner to file an amended notice of removal no later than March 9, 2023, that properly states the basis for federal jurisdiction. The order did not decide the underlying dispute between the parties.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.