Langdon Nevada I, LP v. Travelers Casualty Insurance Company of America

Filing 9

MINUTE ORDER IN CHAMBERS - COURT ORDER by Judge Percy Anderson remanding case to Los Angeles Superior Court, Case number BC646156. Case Terminated. Made JS-6. (mrgo)

JS-6
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
CIVIL MINUTES - GENERAL
Case No.

CV 17-998 PA (AJWx)

Title

Langdon Nevada I, LP v. Travelers Cas. Ins. Co. of Am.

Present: The Honorable

Date

February 9, 2017

PERCY ANDERSON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

V.R. Vallery

Not Reported

N/A

Deputy Clerk

Court Reporter

Tape No.

Attorneys Present for Plaintiffs:

Attorneys Present for Defendants:

None

None

Proceedings:

IN CHAMBERS - COURT ORDER

Before the Court is a Notice of Removal filed on February 8, 2017, by defendant Travelers
Casualty Insurance Company of America (“Defendant”). (Docket No. 1.) Defendant asserts that this
Court has jurisdiction over an action brought against it by plaintiff Langdon Nevada I, LP (“Plaintiff”)
based on the Court’s diversity jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332.
Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, having subject matter jurisdiction over only
those matters authorized by the Constitution and Congress. See, e.g., Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins.
Co., 511 U.S. 375, 377, 114 S. Ct. 1673, 128 L. Ed. 2d 391 (1994). A suit filed in state court may be
removed to federal court if the federal court would have had original jurisdiction over the suit.
28 U.S.C. § 1441(a). A removed action must be remanded to state court if the federal court lacks subject
matter jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c). “The burden of establishing federal jurisdiction is on the party
seeking removal, and the removal statute is strictly construed against removal jurisdiction.” Prize Frize
Inc. v. Matrix Inc., 167 F.3d 1261, 1265 (9th Cir. 1999). “Federal jurisdiction must be rejected if there
is any doubt as to the right of removal in the first instance.” Gaus v. Miles, Inc., 980 F.2d 564, 566 (9th
Cir. 1992).
To invoke this Court’s diversity jurisdiction, Defendant must establish that there is complete
diversity of citizenship between the parties and that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. See
28 U.S.C. § 1332. “Absent unusual circumstances, a party seeking to invoke diversity jurisdiction
should be able to allege affirmatively the actual citizenship of the relevant parties.” See Kanter v.
Warner-Lambert Co., 265 F.3d 853, 857 (9th Cir. 2001). To establish citizenship for diversity purposes,
a natural person must be a citizen of the United States and be domiciled in a particular state. Kantor v.
Wellesley Galleries, Ltd., 704 F.2d 1088, 1090 (9th Cir. 1983). “[A] partnership is a citizen of all of the
states of which its partners are citizens,” and an LLC is citizen of all the states of which its members are
citizens. See Johnson v. Columbia Props. Anchorage, LP, 437 F.3d 894, 899 (9th Cir. 2006) (“[L]ike a
partnership, an LLC is a citizen of every state of which its owners/members are citizens.”); Marseilles
Hydro Power, LLC v. Marseilles Land & Water Co., 299 F.3d 643, 652 (7th Cir. 2002) (“[T]he relevant
citizenship [of an LLC] for diversity purposes is that of the members, not of the company . . . .”); TPS
Utilicom Servs., Inc. v. AT & T Corp., 223 F. Supp. 2d 1089, 1101 (C.D. Cal. 2002) (“A limited liability
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
CIVIL MINUTES - GENERAL
Case No.

CV 17-998 PA (AJWx)

Date

Title

February 9, 2017

Langdon Nevada I, LP v. Travelers Cas. Ins. Co. of Am.

company . . . is treated like a partnership for the purpose of establishing citizenship under diversity
jurisdiction.”).
In an effort to establish Plaintiff’s citizenship, the Notice of Removal alleges:
Plaintiff Langdon Nevada I, LP . . . is a citizen of Nevada. As alleged in
the Complaint, Langdon is a limited partnership with its principal place of
business in Nevada. Langdon Nevada LLC, a Nevada limited liability
corporation [sic], is the general partner of Langdon Nevada I, LP and the
only partner registered with the Nevada Secretary of State.
(Docket 1, ¶ 5 (internal citations omitted).)
This fails to adequately establish Plaintiff’s citizenship. Here, even if Langdon Nevada LLC is
Plaintiff’s only partner, which is unclear from this Notice of Removal, its citizenship is not adequately
alleged because its citizenship depends on that of each of its members. Defendant does not identify
Langdon Nevada LLC’s members, nor does it allege their citizenship. As a result, Defendant’s
allegations are insufficient to invoke this Court’s diversity jurisdiction.
For the foregoing reasons, Defendant has failed to meet its burden to demonstrate that the Court
has diversity jurisdiction in this case. Accordingly, the Court remands the action to Los Angeles
Superior Court, Case No. BC646156. See 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c).
IT IS SO ORDERED.

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