VC Sellers Reserve LLC v. CH2M Hill Companies LTD

Filing 4

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE by Judge Robert S. Lasnik. Show Cause Response due by 3/20/2009. (CL)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 This matter comes before the Court sua sponte. On February 23, 2009, plaintiff filed its complaint with this Court alleging that the Court has jurisdiction based on the diversity of citizenship of the parties. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) (establishing that the federal court's basic diversity jurisdiction extends to "all civil actions where the matter in controversy exceeds . . . $75,000 . . . and is between . . . citizens of different States."). "For a case to qualify for federal jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a), there must be complete diversity of citizenship between the parties opposed in interest." Kuntz v. Lamar Corp., 385 F.3d 1177, 1181 (9th Cir. 2004) (internal citation omitted). In examining whether complete diversity is present, the citizenship of a limited liability company is determined by examining the citizenship of the owners/members. See Johnson v. Columbia Props. Anchorage, LP, 437 F.3d 894, 899 (9th Cir. 2006) (holding
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE - 1

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE VC SELLERS RESERVE LLC, Plaintiff, v. CH2M HILL COMPANIES, LTD., Defendant. Case No. C09-0236RSL ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

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that "like a partnership, an LLC is a citizen of every state of which its owners/members are citizens."). In its complaint, however, plaintiff failed to allege the citizenship of each owner/member of plaintiff's LLC. Therefore, plaintiff has failed to meet its burden to establish the basis of the Court's jurisdiction. See Indus. Tectonics, Inc. v. Aero Alloy, 912 F.2d 1090, 1092 (9th Cir. 1990) ("The party asserting jurisdiction has the burden of proving all jurisdictional facts"); Fed R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3) ("If the Court determines at any time that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction, the court must dismiss the action"). As a result, plaintiff is ORDERED TO SHOW CAUSE why the Court should not dismiss this action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3) by providing the Court with the citizenship of all of the owners/members of VC Sellers Reserve LLC, at the time the complaint was filed, by March 19, 2009. The Clerk of the Court is directed to place this order to show cause on the Court's calendar for March 20, 2009. DATED this 4th day of March, 2009.

A

Robert S. Lasnik United States District Judge

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE - 2