Shadid LLC v. Aspen Specialty Insurance Company

Filing 7

ORDER that Plaintiff is directed to file an amended pleading within 14 days to cure deficiency. Signed by Honorable Timothy D. DeGiusti on 6/22/2015. (mb)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA
CHARLES A. SHADID, L.L.C.,
Plaintiff,
v.
ASPEN SPECIALTY INSURANCE
COMPANY,
Defendant.

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Case No. CIV-15-595-D

ORDER
By Order of June 5, 2015, the Court directed Plaintiff Charles A. Shadid, L.L.C., an
Oklahoma limited liability company, to amend its pleading to identify its members and allege their
citizenship. Without this information, the Court found that the Complaint failed to demonstrate
diversity of citizenship between the parties and failed to show the existence of subject matter
jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, as asserted by Plaintiff. See Siloam Springs Hotel, L.L.C. v.
Century Surety Co.,781 F.3d 1233, 1237-38 (10th Cir. 2015). Upon examination of the First
Amended Complaint, the Court again finds insufficient factual allegations to establish diversity of
citizenship.
Plaintiff identifies its members as three Oklahoma trusts. The Tenth Circuit has announced
the following rule: “When a trustee is a party to litigation, it is the trustee’s citizenship that controls
for purposes of diversity jurisdiction, as long as the trustee satisfies the real-party-in-interest test set
out in Navarro [Savings Ass’n v. Lee, 446 U.S. 458 (1980)]. When the trust itself is party to the
litigation, the citizenship of the trust is derived from all the trust’s ‘members.’ . . . [A]t a minimum,
a trust’s membership includes the trust’s beneficiaries.” See Conagra Foods, Inc. v. Americold
Logistics, LLC, 776 F.3d 1175, 1181 (10th Cir. 2015) (footnote omitted). The court left open the

question of whether a trust’s membership also includes its trustees for purposes of determining its
citizenship. See id. at 1181-82 (internal quotation omitted).
In this case, the First Amended Complaint contains no facts that would establish the
citizenship of the three trusts that are alleged to be members of the limited liability company.
Accordingly, the Court finds that the First Amended Complaint fails to sufficiently allege Plaintiff’s
citizenship for purposes of establishing diversity jurisdiction.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff is directed to file an amended pleading within
14 days of this date to cure the deficiency identified in this Order.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 22nd day of June, 2015.

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