Hancock Bank v. Willow Springs Enterprises, Inc. et al

Filing 13

ORDER. Plaintiff ordered to file a response to this Order on or before February 1, 2017, demonstrating that the parties to this case are completely diverse. Signed by District Judge Keith Starrett on 1/18/2017 (dtj)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
EASTERN DIVISION
HANCOCK BANK
V.

PLAINTIFF
CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:16-CV-108-KS-MTP

WILLOW SPRINGS ENTERPRISES,
INC., et al.

DEFENDANTS

ORDER
“[F]ederal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, having only the authority
endowed by the Constitution and that conferred by Congress.” Halmekangas v. State
Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 603 F.3d 290, 292 (5th Cir. 2010). This Court has “original
jurisdiction of all civil actions where the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or
value of $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and is between . . . citizens of different
states.” 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a).
For diversity jurisdiction, the parties must be completely diverse. Harvey v. Grey
Wolf Drilling Co., 542 F.3d 1077, 1079 (5th Cir. 2008). “Complete diversity requires
that all persons on one side of the controversy be citizens of different states than all
persons on the other side.” Id. When determining whether the parties are completely
diverse, the Court looks at their citizenship at the time the Complaint was filed. Grupo
Dataflux v. Atlas Global Group, L.P., 541 U.S. 567, 571, 124 S. Ct. 1920, 158 L. Ed. 2d
866 (2004). The citizenship of a limited liability company, limited partnership, or other
unincorporated association “is determined by the citizenship of all of its members.”
Arena v. Graybar Elec. Co., 669 F.3d 214, 224 (5th Cir. 2012).

Plaintiff is a citizen of Mississippi. Therefore, for this Court to have diversity
jurisdiction, all Defendants must be citizens of states other than Mississippi. According
to Plaintiff’s Complaint [1], Defendant Larsen & Keller, LLC “is a Pennsylvania limited
liability corporation,” but Plaintiff did not plead any facts regarding the citizenship of
Larsen & Keller, LLC’s members. Therefore, the Complaint contains insufficient
information for the Court to determine whether it has subject matter jurisdiction over
this case.
“The party seeking to invoke federal jurisdiction bears the burden of establishing
. . . that the parties are diverse . . . .” Garcia v. Koch Oil Co. of Tex., Inc., 351 F.3d 636,
639 (5th Cir. 2003). Accordingly, the Court orders Plaintiff to file a response to this
Order on or before February 1, 2017, demonstrating that the parties to this case are
completely diverse.
SO ORDERED AND ADJUDGED, on this, the

18th day of January, 2017.

s/Keith Starrett
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE