LiveIntent, Inc. v. Vantage Group LLC
- Vernon Broderick
- 1:23-cv-11204
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In LiveIntent v. Vantage Group, Judge Broderick dismissed the complaint without prejudice, allowing LiveIntent 30 days to replead jurisdiction.
LiveIntent must provide the citizenship of Vantage Group LLC’s members in an amended complaint within 30 days or the action will be terminated. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims or the effect on Vantage beyond the dismissal.
What happened
LiveIntent, Inc. sued Vantage Group LLC and relied on diversity jurisdiction, which allows federal courts to hear disputes involving citizens of different states. The complaint alleged that Vantage was organized under Florida law but did not identify the citizenship of each of its members.
The court explained that a limited liability company is considered a citizen of every state where its members are citizens. Because the complaint did not provide that information, it did not properly establish federal subject-matter jurisdiction, meaning the court’s authority to hear the case.
Judge Vernon S. Broderick dismissed the complaint without prejudice and with leave to replead. LiveIntent has 30 days to file an amended complaint that properly asserts subject-matter jurisdiction; otherwise, the Clerk must terminate the action.
The detailed version
- LiveIntent, Inc. v. Vantage Group LLC · No. 1:23-cv-11204
- Vernon Broderick
- Feb. 1, 2024
Background
LiveIntent commenced the action against Vantage. The complaint relied on diversity of citizenship as the basis for federal subject-matter jurisdiction. The opinion states that the complaint alleged Vantage was organized under Florida law and identified Vantage as a limited liability company.
Jurisdictional defect
For diversity jurisdiction, a limited liability company is a citizen of every state in which each of its members is a citizen. The complaint did not plead the citizenship of Vantage’s constituent members. The court therefore concluded that the complaint, on its face, failed to properly plead the existence of diversity jurisdiction.
Ruling
Judge Vernon S. Broderick dismissed LiveIntent’s complaint without prejudice and with leave to replead. The court directed LiveIntent to file an amended complaint properly asserting subject-matter jurisdiction within 30 days. If LiveIntent does not do so, the Clerk of Court is directed to terminate the action.
Classification
This is a procedural order because the court dismissed the complaint for failure to properly plead subject-matter jurisdiction without reaching the underlying dispute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.