QBE Insurance Corporation v. Galdino Navarro Cortes

Filing 17

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE RE SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION by Judge George H. Wu. Please refer to the Court's order for specifics. Response to Order to Show Cause due by 11/20/2015. (cr)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
CIVIL MINUTES - GENERAL
Case No.

CV 15-6915-GW (PLAx)

Title

QBE Ins. Corp. v. Cortes

Present: The Honorable

Date

November 13, 2015

GEORGE H. WU, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Javier Gonzalez

None Present

Deputy Clerk

Court Reporter / Recorder

Tape No.

Attorneys Present for Plaintiff:

Attorneys Present for Defendant:

None Present

None Present

PROCEEDINGS (IN CHAMBERS):

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE REGARDING SUBJECT
MATTER JURISDICTION

QBE Insurance Corporation (“Plaintiff”) alleges a claim for declaratory relief against Galdino
Navarro Cortes (“Defendant”), asserting diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1). See
Compl. ¶ 8, Docket No. 1. As the party asserting jurisdiction, Plaintiff has the burden of establishing that
subject matter jurisdiction exists before this matter proceeds further. Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of
Am., 511 U.S. 375, 377 (1994) (“It is to be presumed that a cause lies outside this limited jurisdiction, and the
burden of establishing the contrary rests upon the party asserting jurisdiction.”) (citations omitted).
Plaintiff’s jurisdictional allegations are presently insufficient.
Plaintiff states that Defendant “is an individual residing in the state of California, County of Los
Angeles” See Compl. ¶ 3 (emphasis added). For diversity purposes, a person is a “citizen” of the state in
which he or she is domiciled. Kantor v. Wellesley Galleries, Ltd., 704 F.2d 1088, 1090 (9th Cir. 1983). A
person residing in a given state is not necessarily domiciled there, and thus is not necessarily a citizen of that
state. Kanter v. Warner-Lambert Co., 265 F.3d 853, 857 (9th Cir. 2001). A person’s domicile is the place he
or she physically resides with intent to make it a fixed and permanent home, while residence means living in
a particular locality. Id.
Plaintiff is hereby ordered to amend the Complaint to cure this jurisdictional defect by November 20,
2015, or to otherwise show cause by that date as to why this action should not be dismissed for lack of
subject matter jurisdiction due to the aforementioned defect. See Arbaugh v. Y&H Corp., 546 U.S. 500, 514
(2006) (indicating that courts must assure themselves of the existence of subject matter jurisdiction before
proceeding); Valdez v. Allstate Ins. Co., 372 F.3d 1115, 1116 (9th Cir. 2004) (same). If Plaintiff elects to
amend the Complaint – and does so only in this regard – the parties may stipulate to keeping the motion
presently set for December 14, 2015, on-calendar, but as applied to the newly-amended complaint.

:
Initials of Preparer
CV-90 (06/04)

CIVIL MINUTES - GENERAL

JG
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
CIVIL MINUTES - GENERAL
Case No.

CV 15-6915-GW (PLAx)

Title

Date

November 13, 2015

QBE Ins. Corp. v. Cortes

The Court further orders the Court Clerk promptly to serve this order on all parties who have
appeared in the action.

:
Initials of Preparer
CV-90 (06/04)

CIVIL MINUTES - GENERAL

JG
Page 2 of 2