Ingram v. Janssen Research & Development LLC et al (JOINT ASSIGN)

Filing 49

OPINION AND ORDER that it is the ORDER, JUDGMENT, and DECREE of the court that the plf has until 1/9/2015, to amend the complaint further to allege jurisdiction sufficiently, as further set out in order. Signed by Honorable Judge Myron H. Thompson on 12/29/14. (djy, )

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA, NORTHERN DIVISION
MARY ANN INGRAM, as
Executrix of the Estate of
Ada Erle Church and
Personal Representative of
Ada Erle Church, deceased,
Plaintiff,
v.
JANSSEN RESEARCH &
DEVELOPMENT, LLC f/k/a
Johnson and Johnson
Pharmaceutical Research
and Development, LLC, et
al.,
Defendants.

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CIVIL ACTION NO.
2:14cv1125-MHT
(WO)

OPINION AND ORDER
The allegations of the amended complaint in this
case are insufficient to invoke this court's original
jurisdiction
citizenship).
diversity,

under

U.S.C.

§

1332

(diversity

of

To invoke original jurisdiction based on
the

affirmatively

28

complaint

allege

each

must

party's

distinctly

and

citizenship.

See

McGovern v. American Airlines, Inc., 511 F. 2d 653, 654
(5th

Cir.

1975)

(per

curiam);

see

also

Bonner

v.

Prichard,

661

F.2d

1206,

1209

(11th

Cir.

1981)

(en

banc) (the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals adopted as
binding precedent all of the decisions of the former
Fifth

Circuit

handed

down

prior

business on September 30, 1981).
show

that

the

citizenship

to

the

close

of

The allegations must

of

each

different from that of each defendant.

plaintiff

is

See 28 U.S.C.

§ 1332; see also 2 James Wm. Moore, et al., Moore's
Federal Practice § 8.03[5][b] at 8-16 (3d ed. 2006).
The

plaintiff's

standard in two ways.

complaint

fails

to

meet

this

First, the complaint does not

allege the citizenship of the

plaintiff, who brings

suit in her capacity as the executrix of the estate, as
well as personal representative, of a decedent.

"[T]he

legal representative of the estate of a decedent shall
be deemed to be a citizen only of the same State as the
decedent...."
order

to

28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(2).

allege

properly

the

Therefore, in

citizenship

of

the

plaintiff, the complaint must allege the citizenship of
the decedent whose estate the plaintiff represents.

2

Second, the complaint is insufficient because it
does not indicate the citizenship of a party that it
identifies as a ‘limited liability company’: Janssen
Research

&

Development,

LLC.

“[L]ike

a

limited

partnership, a limited liability company is a citizen
of any state of which a member of the company is a
citizen.”

Rolling

Greens

MHP,

L.P.

v.

Comcast

SCH

Holdings L.L.C., 374 F.3d 1020, 1022 (11th Cir. 2004).
The complaint must therefore allege “the citizenships
of all the members of the limited liability company.”
Id.

And if the entity consists of several entities,

the

complaint

must

reflect

the

citizenship,

or

citizenships, of each and every entity based on the
nature of that entity.

***

It is therefore the ORDER, JUDGMENT, and DECREE of
the court that the plaintiff has until January 9, 2015,
to amend the complaint further to allege jurisdiction

3

sufficiently; otherwise this lawsuit shall be dismissed
without prejudice.
DONE, this the 29th day of December, 2014.
/s/ Myron H. Thompson
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE