SRI Energy LLC v. Clean Energy Nexus LLC
- Jesse Furman
- 1:22-cv-10431
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In SRI Energy v. Clean Energy Nexus, Judge Furman tolled contempt sanctions and required citizenship information to establish federal jurisdiction.
Clean Energy Nexus LLC and Joaquin Altenberg were subject to the contempt sanctions and the required jurisdictional information. SRI Energy LLC was ordered to serve the order and file proof of service.
What happened
In SRI Energy LLC v. Clean Energy Nexus LLC, the court had previously found Clean Energy Nexus LLC and its chief executive officer, Joaquin Altenberg, in contempt for failing to follow court orders. Altenberg later attempted to comply, but the information he provided was incomplete.
The court explained that an LLC’s citizenship depends on the citizenship of all its members, including members that are themselves LLCs or limited partnerships. It required Altenberg to provide his citizenship by email to SRI’s lawyer.
Judge Jesse M. Furman temporarily stopped the contempt sanctions until June 16, 2023, stating that they would end if Altenberg provided the required information by then. The court also ordered SRI to serve the order on Clean Energy Nexus and Altenberg by certified mail and email and to file proof of service.
The detailed version
- SRI Energy LLC v. Clean Energy Nexus LLC · No. 1:22-cv-10431
- Jesse Furman
- June 12, 2023
Background
In a June 8, 2023 memorandum and order, the court held Clean Energy Nexus LLC (CEN) and Joaquin Altenberg, CEN’s chief executive officer, in contempt for failing to comply with the court’s orders. Altenberg then attempted to comply, but the court found that his responses did not provide all the information needed to establish subject-matter jurisdiction.
Jurisdictional information
The court explained that, for diversity-of-citizenship jurisdiction, a limited liability company is considered a citizen of every state of which its members are citizens. The court stated that a complaint relying on diversity jurisdiction must identify the citizenship of all individual members and, for corporate members, their places of incorporation and principal places of business. The required information also extends through LLC or limited-partnership members within the ownership structure.
The court directed Altenberg to respond only by email to SRI’s counsel and state his citizenship. The opinion gave “I am a citizen of Puerto Rico” as an example if accurate.
Order
Because Altenberg had attempted to comply, the court tolled—that is, temporarily paused—the sanctions imposed by the June 8 order until June 16, 2023. The sanctions would end if Altenberg provided the necessary information by that date. The court also ordered SRI to serve the order on CEN and Altenberg by both certified mail and email no later than June 13, 2023, and to file proof of service by June 14, 2023.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.