Welch et al v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co et al

Filing 7

ORDER denying without prejudice 5 Motion to Intervene. L E M I C will be allowed until 10/15/2010 to renew its motion. Signed by Magistrate Judge Mark L Hornsby on 9/24/2010. (crt,Kennedy, T)

- MLH Welch et al v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co et al

Doc. 7

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT W E S T E R N DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA S H R E V E P O R T DIVISION

V IC K IE WELCH, ET AL V ER SU S A M E R IC A N FAMILY MUTUAL IN S U R A N C E CO., ET AL

C IV IL ACTION NO. 10-cv-1200 J U D G E HICKS M A G I S T R A T E JUDGE HORNSBY

M E M O R A N D U M ORDER V ick ie and Michael Welch, citizens of Louisiana, filed suit in state court for recovery o f personal injury damages. The defendants removed the case based on an assertion of d iv e rs ity jurisdiction. Defendants represent that they are citizens of Wisconsin, Oklahoma, a n d Illinois. B e f o re the court is a Motion for Leave to File Intervention (Doc. 5) by which L E M IC , Louisiana Mutual Insurance Company seeks to intervene and recover worker's co m p en satio n benefits paid to Vickie Welch as a result of the work-related accident. LEMIC d e s c rib e s itself only as "a Louisiana mutual insurance company." T h e re must be diversity of citizenship between the worker's compensation intervenor a n d the defendants in the case. Dushane v. Gallagher Kaiser Corp., 2005 WL 1959151 (W .D . La. 2005). The proposed complaint in intervention does not adequately describe L E M IC ' s citizenship to determine whether the court may exercise jurisdiction over the p ro p o se d intervention. Accordingly, the Motion for Leave to File Intervention (Doc. 5) is

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d e n ie d without prejudice to the right of LEMIC to assert the motion again, provided the p ro p o s e d complaint in intervention sets forth its citizenship with specificity. If LEMIC is a corporation, it will need to state with specificity (1) the state in which it is incorporated, and (2) the state in which it has its principal place of business. If LEMIC is another form of entity, such as an unincorporated association, it will have to allege its c itiz e n s h ip with specificity in accordance with the rules applicable to that form of entity. S o m e insurance companies are not corporations and, rather, are unincorporated associations th a t require consideration of the citizenship of every member. Some such companies have m e m b e r s residing in all 50 states so that diversity is never possible. See e.g., Norton v. G u rley, 2000 WL 1408168 (E.D. La. 2000). If LEMIC renews its motion, it should take care to ascertain and allege with specificity what form of legal entity the insurer takes. LEMIC will be allowed until October 15, 2010 to renew its motion. If it does not do s o by that date, the court will set a scheduling conference and proceed with the litigation w ith o u t LEMIC. T H U S DONE AND SIGNED in Shreveport, Louisiana, this 24th day of September, 2010.

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