Davenport v. Irving Place Associates L P

• Court: District Court, W.D. Louisiana
• Decided: October 1, 2025
• Docket: 5:25-cv-01422
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA SHREVEPORT DIVISION

COREY DAVENPORT CIVIL ACTION NO. 25-cv-1422

VERSUS JUDGE S. MAURICE HICKS, JR.

IRVING PLACE ASSOCIATES L P MAGISTRATE JUDGE HORNSBY

MEMORANDUM ORDER Irving Place, L.P. filed a Diversity Jurisdiction Disclosure Statement (Doc. 2) to set forth its citizenship. It traced its members through several layers of LLCs and partnerships until it reached Southeast HC Partners, LLC. Irving Place alleged that Southeast HC’s members are WHPJS, LLC; WHPGP, LLC; WHPNP, LLC; “and other limited partners, all of whom are not residents of Louisiana.” Irving Place alleged that the sole member of WHPJS is Joel Sabel, that the sole member of WHPGP is Richard Platschek, and that the sole member of WHPNP is Andrew Platschek. Each of these three individuals was described to be a “resident” of New York. Irving Place later filed an Amended Diversity Jurisdiction Disclosure Statement that clarified that the previously unnamed members of Southeast HC Partners are Moshe Kelman and Shulom Landau, also alleged to be residents of New York. It is domicile rather than mere residency that decides citizenship for diversity purposes, and “an allegation of residency alone ‘does not satisfy the requirement of an allegation of citizenship.’” Midcap Media Finance, LLC v. Pathway Data, Inc., 929 F.3d 310, 313 (5th Cir. 2019), quoting Strain v. Harrelson Rubber Co., 742 F.2d 888, 889 (5th Cir. 1984). A person may reside in multiple states simultaneously, but “[a]n individual who resides in more than one State is regarded, for purposes of federal subject-matter (diversity) jurisdiction, as a citizen of but one State.” Wachovia Bank v. Schmidt, 126 S. Ct. 941, 951 (2006). That is the state in which the person is domiciled. Id.; Acridge v. Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Soc., 334 F.3d 444, 451 (5th Cir. 2003). Irving Place will be allowed until October 10, 2025 to file a second amended Diversity Jurisdiction Disclosure Statement to allege the states in which Moshe Kelman, Shulom Landau, Joel Sabel, Richard Platschek, and Andrew Platschek are domiciled. THUS DONE AND SIGNED in Shreveport, Louisiana, this Ist day of October, 2025. =| Mark L. Hornsby U.S. Magistrate Judge

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