STOREY v. SELECT MANAGEMENT RESOURCES, LLC

Filing 7

ORDER ON JURISDICTION - The Court ORDERS Plaintiff to file a jurisdictional statement by August 13, 2021, addressing the issues identified in this order. The jurisdictional statement should also address Plaintiff's citizenship. See Order. Signed by Judge James Patrick Hanlon on 7/15/2021.(KAA)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
TERRE HAUTE DIVISION
JANET STOREY, CPA Trustee of The
Allyn Jeanette Bowers Trust, Successor
in Interest to the Allan J. Willig Trust,
Plaintiff,
v.
SELECT MANAGEMENT RESOURCES,
LLC,
Defendant.

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No. 2:21-cv-00266-JPH-DLP

ORDER ON JURISDICTION
Plaintiff has filed a complaint alleging that this Court has diversity
jurisdiction over this matter. Dkt. 1. For the Court to have diversity
jurisdiction, the amount in controversy must exceed $75,000, exclusive of
interest and costs, and the litigation must be between citizens of different
states. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a).
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). For LLCs, parties must "work back through the
ownership structure until [reaching] either individual human beings or a
formal corporation with a state of incorporation and a state of principal place of
business." Baez-Sanchez v. Sessions, 862 F.3d 638, 641 (7th Cir. 2017);
Thomas, 487 F.3d at 534.
Here, the complaint identifies Defendant—Select Management Resources,
LLC—as an LLC, but it does not identify its members or the citizenship of those
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members. Counsel has an obligation to analyze subject-matter jurisdiction,
Heinen v. Northrop Grumman Corp., 671 F.3d 669, 670 (7th Cir. 2012), and a
federal court always has the responsibility to ensure that it has jurisdiction,
Hukic v. Aurora Loan Servs., 588 F.3d 420, 427 (7th Cir. 2009). The Court's
obligation includes knowing the details of the underlying jurisdictional
allegations. See Evergreen Square of Cudahy v. Wis. Hous. and Econ. Dev.
Auth., 776 F.3d 463, 465 (7th Cir. 2015) ("the parties' united front is irrelevant
since the parties cannot confer subject-matter jurisdiction by agreement . . .
and federal courts are obligated to inquire into the existence of jurisdiction sua
sponte").
Therefore, the Court ORDERS Plaintiff to file a jurisdictional statement
by August 13, 2021, addressing the issues identified in this order. The
jurisdictional statement should also address Plaintiff's citizenship. See RTP
LLC v. ORIX Real Estate Capital, Inc., 827 F.3d 689 (7th Cir. 2016).
SO ORDERED.
Date: 7/15/2021

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Distribution:
Mark Douglas Hassler
HUNT HASSLER & LORENZ, LLP
[e-mail]

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