West v. National Casualty Company et al

Filing 5

NOTICE AND ORDER: The Removing Defendants shall file a Motion to Substitute the Notice of Removal within seven (7) days of this Notice and Order as listed. No further leave of court is necessary to file the Motion to Substitute. Signed by Magistrate Judge Erin Wilder-Doomes on 8/22/2017. (LLH)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
JOSEPH WEST
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO. 17-571-JWD-EWD
NATIONAL CASUALTY
COMPANY, ET AL.
NOTICE AND ORDER REGARDING NOTICE OF REMOVAL
On August 18, 2017, defendants, New Prime, Inc. and RLI Insurance Company (the
“Removing Defendants”) filed a Notice of Removal based upon complete diversity of citizenship
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332.1
Per the Notice of Removal, plaintiff, Joseph West (“Plaintiff”), is a “resident and citizen
of the State of Louisiana.”2 However, “[f]or diversity purposes, citizenship means domicile, mere
residence in the State is not sufficient.” See, Mas v. Perry, 489 F.2d 1396, 1399 (5th Cir. 1974).
Accordingly, the Removing Defendants have not sufficiently alleged Plaintiff’s citizenship
because they do not allege Plaintiff’s domicile.3
With respect to the incorporated entities, in diversity cases involving corporations,
“allegations of citizenship must set forth the state of incorporation as well as the principal place of
business of each corporation.” Getty Oil, Div. of Texaco v. Ins. Co. of North America, 841 F.2d
1254, 1259 (5th Cir. 1988). Per the Notice of Removal, National Casualty Company (“National
Casualty”) is “a company organized under and pursuant to the laws of the State of Wisconsin and

R. Doc. 1, ¶ 7. The Petition for Damages only alleges that Plaintiff is “residing in Slaughter, Louisiana.” R. Doc.
1-4.
1

2

R. Doc. 1, ¶ 8.

In contrast, the Removing Defendants allege that the individual defendant, Raul Guerrero, is “domiciled in the State
of Texas” and the individual defendant, Nathan C. Deni, Jr., is “domiciled in the State of North Carolina.” R. Doc. 1,
¶¶ 11 & 14. These are sufficient allegations of citizenship.
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its principal place of business is in the State of Arizona.”4 Assuming National Casualty is a
corporation, this is an adequate allegation of citizenship; however, it is not clear from the Notice
of Removal that National Casualty is a corporation.5
Finally, with respect to JV & AV Trucking, LLC (“JV & AV”), the Removing Defendants
allege that JV & AV “is a limited liability company organized under the laws of the State of
Texas.”6 To properly allege the citizenship of a limited liability company, a party must identify
each of the members of the limited liability company and the citizenship of each member in
accordance with the requirements of § 1332(a) and (c). See, Harvey v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co.,
542 F.3d 1077, 1080 (5th Cir. 2008). The same requirement applies to any member of a limited
liability company which is also a limited liability company. See, Turner Bros. Crane and Rigging,
LLC v. Kingboard Chemical Holding Ltd., Civil Action No. 06-88, 2007 WL 2848154, at *4-5
(M.D. La. Sept. 24, 2007) (“when partners or members are themselves entities or associations, the
citizenship must be traced through however many layers of members or partners there may be, and
failure to do [sic] can result in dismissal for want of jurisdiction.”) (quotation and citation omitted).
Accordingly, the citizenship of JV & AV has not been properly alleged.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Removing Defendants shall file a Motion to
Substitute the Notice of Removal within seven (7) days of this Notice and Order. The proposed
substitute Notice of Removal shall explicitly allege: (1) the domicile of Plaintiff; (2) the type of
entity that National Casualty Company is (i.e., whether it is a corporation or an unincorporated
association) and National Casualty Company’s citizenship based on the particular rules for that

4

R. Doc. 1, ¶ 9.

5

In contrast, the Notice of Removal explicitly states that New Prime, Inc. and RLI Insurance Company are
corporations and alleges each corporation’s state of incorporation and principal place of business. See, R. Doc. 1, ¶¶
12-13.
6

R. Doc. 1, ¶ 10.

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type of entity; and (3) the citizenship of JV & AV Trucking, LLC by setting forth the member(s)
of JV & AV Trucking, LLC and the citizenship of each member(s). No further leave of court is
necessary to file the Motion to Substitute.
Signed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on August 22, 2017.

S
ERIN WILDER-DOOMES
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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