INDIANA AVIATION PARTNERS LLC et al v. SIEGEL

Filing 9

ENTRY ON JURISDICTION - Plaintiffs are ORDERED to file a Supplemental Jurisdictional Statement that establishes the Court's jurisdiction over this case. This statement should specifically identify each of the members of Plaintiff Indiana Avia tion Partners, LLC and their citizenship, and the state of incorporation of Plaintiff United States Aviation Underwriters, Inc. This Supplemental Jurisdictional Statement is due 7 days from the date of this Entry. Signed by Judge Tanya Walton Pratt on 4/29/2015.(MGG)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION
INDIANA AVIATION PARTNERS, LLC,
and UNITED STATES AVIATION
UNDERWRITERS, INC., as manager of the
member companies of the United States
Aircraft Insurance Group,
Plaintiffs,
v.
JOHN J. SIEGEL, JR.,
Defendant.

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No. 1:15-cv-00650-TWP-DML

ENTRY ON JURISDICTION
It has come to the Court’s attention that Plaintiffs’ Complaint fails to allege all of the facts
necessary to determine whether this Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this case. The
Complaint alleges that this Court has jurisdiction based upon diversity of citizenship. However,
the Complaint fails to sufficiently allege the citizenship of the Plaintiffs. Citizenship is the
operative consideration for jurisdictional purposes. See Meyerson v. Harrah’s East Chicago
Casino, 299 F.3d 616, 617 (7th Cir. 2002) (“residence and citizenship are not synonyms and it is
the latter that matters for purposes of the diversity jurisdiction”).
“For diversity jurisdiction purposes, the citizenship of an LLC is the citizenship of each of
its members.” Thomas v. Guardsmark, LLC, 487 F.3d 531, 534 (7th Cir. 2007). “Consequently, an
LLC’s jurisdictional statement must identify the citizenship of each of its members as of the date
the complaint or notice of removal was filed, and, if those members have members, the citizenship
of those members as well.” Id. The Complaint alleges that Plaintiff Indiana Aviation Partners, LLC
is “an Indiana limited liability corporation with its principal place of business located at 7001

Airport Drive, Sellersburg, Indiana 47172.” (Filing No. 1 at 1.) This does not establish the
citizenship of Plaintiff Indiana Aviation Partners, LLC. Alleging the identity and citizenship of
each member of Plaintiff Indiana Aviation Partners, LLC is necessary for this Court to determine
whether it has jurisdiction.
Additionally, Plaintiffs’ Complaint fails to sufficiently allege the citizenship of Plaintiff
United States Aviation Underwriters, Inc. The citizenship of a corporation is “both the state of
incorporation and the state in which the corporation has its principal place of business.” Westfield
Ins. Co. v. Kuhns, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138262, at *3 (S.D. Ind. Nov. 30, 2011). The Complaint
alleges that Plaintiff United States Aviation Underwriters, Inc. has its “principal place of business
in the State of New York,” (Filing No. 1 at 1), but it fails to allege the state of incorporation of
Plaintiff United States Aviation Underwriters, Inc.
Therefore, the Plaintiffs are ORDERED to file a Supplemental Jurisdictional Statement
that establishes the Court’s jurisdiction over this case. This statement should specifically identify
each of the members of Plaintiff Indiana Aviation Partners, LLC and their citizenship, and the state
of incorporation of Plaintiff United States Aviation Underwriters, Inc. This Supplemental
Jurisdictional Statement is due 7 days from the date of this Entry.
SO ORDERED.

Date: ___4/29/2015___

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Distribution:
Matthew W. Melton
NORRIS CHOPLIN & SCHROEDER LLP
[e-mail]
Richard L. Norris
NORRIS CHOPLIN & SCHROEDER LLP
[e-mail]
Michelle A. Spahr
NORRIS CHOPLIN & SCHROEDER, LLP
[e-mail]

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