International Green Structures, LLC v Global Marketing Partners, LLC et al

Filing 5

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER directing Plaintiff shall provide a jurisdictional statement to the Court within fourteen days. Signed by Judge James K. Bredar on 1/29/13. (bmhs, Deputy Clerk)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
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INT’L GREEN STRUCTURES, LLC,

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Plaintiff

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v.

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CIVIL NO. JKB-13-291

GLOBAL MGMT. PARTNERS, LLC, et al., *
Defendants
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MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Plaintiff International Green Structures, LLC (“IGS”), has filed this lawsuit against
Global Management Partners, LLC (“Global”), Glenn Stamps, and Morris Moses. (Compl., ECF
No. 1.) In the jurisdictional statement, Plaintiff alleges the suit is brought under 28 U.S.C.
§§ 1331 and 1332.

The Court has reviewed the complaint and found no federal question

presented in it. Thus, the sole basis of jurisdiction, if it exists, is diversity jurisdiction under
§ 1332.
IGS alleges it is a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business
in Stevensville, Maryland. (Compl. ¶ 3.) It further alleges Global “is a Georgia limited liability
company which claims to do business in a variety of geographical locations including Atlanta,
Georgia, Washington, DC and Nairobi, Kenya.” (Id. ¶ 5.) Global’s chief executive officer is
Stamps and its president is Moses. (Id.) Global allegedly acted through Stamps, who worked
from Global’s offices in Georgia, and Moses, “who worked from his home in Germantown,
Maryland.” (Id. ¶ 6.)
For the purpose of determining diversity jurisdiction, a limited liability company is
considered to be an “unincorporated association,” whose citizenship is that of its members. Gen.

Tech. Applications, Inc. v. Exro, Ltda., 388 F.3d 114, 121 (4th Cir. 2004). Both IGS and Global
are limited liability companies, according to the complaint. Plaintiff’s allegations also indicate
IGS’s principal place of business is in Maryland. Presumably, this is the case because one or
more of its members are citizens of Maryland. As well, Plaintiff’s allegations indicate that
Global acts through Moses, whose home is in Maryland. It is reasonable to infer that both IGS
and Global have members who are citizens of Maryland.

If so, then this Court has no

jurisdiction.
Because the complaint is not conclusive, however, in this regard, further briefing is
necessary for the Court to determine whether diversity jurisdiction exists. Accordingly, it is
hereby ORDERED that Plaintiff shall provide a jurisdictional statement to the Court within
fourteen days of this memorandum and order. In the statement, Plaintiff shall address the issue
raised here and provide additional factual allegations pertaining to the citizenship of IGS’s
members and the citizenship of Global’s members.
DATED this 29th day of January, 2013.

BY THE COURT:

/s/
James K. Bredar
United States District Judge

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