S.J. Louis Construction of Texas, Ltd. v. City of Baton Rouge

Filing 3

ORDER TO AMEND COMPLAINT: Plaintiff shall have ten days to file an amended complaint which properly alleges its citizenship. Signed by Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Riedlinger on 9/11/2014. (SMG)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

S.J. LOUIS CONSTRUCTION OF
TEXAS, LTD.

CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS

NUMBER 14-566-JJB-SCR

CITY OF BATON ROUGE AND
PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE
ORDER TO AMEND COMPLAINT
Plaintiff filed a Complaint and Demand for Trial by Jury
asserting subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332,
diversity of citizenship.

Plaintiff alleged that it “is a Texas

Limited Liability Partnership organized and existing under the laws
of Texas with its principal place of business in Texas.”
When jurisdiction depends on citizenship, the citizenship of
each

party

must

be

distinctly

and

accordance with § 1332(a) and ©).1
jurisdiction

under

28

U.S.C.

§

affirmatively

alleged

in

For purposes of diversity

1332,

the

citizenship

of

a

partnership is determined by considering the citizenship of all its
partners.2

Thus, to properly allege is citizenship the plaintiff

must identify its partners and the citizenship of each partner in

1

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).
2

Carden v. Arkoma Associates, 494 U.S. 185, 110 S.Ct. 1015,
1021 (1990).

accordance with the requirements of § 1332(a) and ©).3
Plaintiff’s
citizenship

is

jurisdictional
not

sufficient

to

allegation
determine

regarding
whether

there

its
is

diversity of citizenship.
Therefore;
IT IS ORDERED that plaintiff shall have ten days to file an
amended complaint which properly alleges its citizenship.
Failure

to

comply

with

this

order

may

result

in

the

plaintiff’s Complaint being dismissed without further notice for
lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, September 11, 2014.

STEPHEN C. RIEDLINGER
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

3

The same requirement applies to any member of a partnership
which is also a partnership or a limited liability company. 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