Hibbard v. AT&T Mobility Services LLC

Filing 2

ORDER: The removing defendant AT&T Mobility Services, LLC shall have 14 days to file an Amended Notice of Removal. Signed by Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Riedlinger on 12/8/2011. (LSM)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

HOLLY HIBBARD
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NUMBER 11-820-FJP-SCR
AT&T MOBILITY SERVICES, LLC
ORDER TO AMEND NOTICE OF REMOVAL
Defendant AT&T Mobility Services, LLC removed this case from
state court asserting subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1332, diversity of citizenship.

To establish diversity of

citizenship, in the Notice of Removal the defendant alleged that
plaintiff

Holly

Hibbard

is

a

Louisiana

citizen

and

it

“is

incorporated in Delaware and has its principal place of business in
Georgia.”1
When jurisdiction depends on citizenship, the citizenship of
each

party

must

be

distinctly

and

affirmatively

alleged

in

accordance with § 1332(a) and (c).2
Under § 1332(c)(1) a corporation is deemed to be a citizen of
every state in which it is incorporated and of the state in which
it has its principal place of business. For purposes of diversity,
the citizenship of a limited liability company is determined by

1

2

Record document number 1, § 4.

Stafford v. Mobil Oil Corp., 945 F.2d 803, 804 (5th Cir.
1991), citing, McGovern v. American Airlines, Inc., 511 F.2d 653,
654 (5th Cir. 1975)(quoting 2A Moore’s Federal Practice ¶ 8.10, at
1662).

considering the citizenship of all its members.3

Thus, to properly

allege the citizenship of a limited liability company, the party
asserting jurisdiction must identify each of the entity’s members
and

the

citizenship

of

each

member

in

accordance

with

the

requirements of § 1332(a) and (c).4
Defendant’s jurisdictional allegations are not sufficient to
establish diversity jurisdiction.
“LLC”

as

part

of

its

Defendant uses the abbreviation

name.

The

abbreviation

typically

is

understood to mean the entity is organized as a limited liability
company, whereas the defendant alleged in the Notice of Removal
that it is “incorporated.”

If the defendant is organized as a

corporation, then there is diversity of citizenship between the
parties.
then

But if it is organized as a limited liability company,

diversity

of

citizenship

cannot

be

determined

from

the

defendants allegations.
Therefore;
IT IS ORDERED that removing defendant AT&T Mobility Services,
LLC shall have 14 days to file an Amended Notice of Removal which

3

Harvey v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co., 542 F.3d 1077, 1080 (5th
Cir. 2008); see Carden v. Arkoma Associates, 494 U.S. 185, 110
S.Ct. 1015, 1021 (1990).
4

The same requirement applies to any member of a limited
liability company which is also a limited liability company or a
partnership.
Turner Bros. Crane and Rigging, LLC v. Kingboard
Chemical Holding Ltd., 2007 WL 2848154 (M.D.La. Sept. 24,
2007)(when partners or members are themselves entities or
associations, citizenship must be traced through however many
layers of members or partners there are).
2

clarifies its organizational form, and if it is organized as a
limited liability company, properly alleges its citizenship.
Failure to comply with this order may result in the case being
remanded for lack of subject matter jurisdiction without further
notice.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, December 8, 2011.

STEPHEN C. RIEDLINGER
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

3