OJEDA V. LOUIS BERGER GROUP (DOMESTIC), INC.

District Court, D. New Jersey·Decided April 12, 2021·No. 2:18-cv-17233·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

IVAN OJEDA, JOSE RODRIGUEZ- Civ. No. 18-17233 (KM) (JBC) ORTIZ, EDUARDO RIVAS

FERNANDEZ, JUAN GERENA, IVAN BURGOS-TORRES, EFRAIN OPINION HERNANDEZ-ADORNO AND MUGUEL MILLET-MORALES, INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHALF OF ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED,

Plaintiffs,

v.

LOUIS BERGER GROUP (DOMESTIC), INC., KENNETT CONSULTING, LLC, KALLBERG INDUSTRIES, LLC, BLUESOURCE, LLC, AUTOMATED CONTROLS AND POWER LLC/ACP LLC, H.P. SERVICES, CORP., ABLE INNOVATIONS INC. d/b/a HELSEL’S AUTOMOTIVE, SUNCOAST RESOURCES, INC., LMD AND ASSC., LLC, AND DK&J ENTERPRISES, INC.,

Defendants.

KEVIN MCNULTY, U.S.D.J.: On March 11, 2021, this Court issued an opinion and order (DE 321; DE 322) granting motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction by defendants LMD and Assc., LLC (“LMD”) (DE 252), H.P. Services, Corp. (“HP”) (DE 290), Kallberg Industries, LLC (“Kallberg”) (DE 250), and Bluesource, LLC (“Bluesource”) (DE 244.) I additionally granted plaintiffs’ motion, in which they consented to transfer their claims against Able Innovations, Inc. (“Able”.) (DE 322.) At that time, I directed the parties to assert their positions as to whether the Court should opt to dismiss such claims or transfer them to districts where personal jurisdiction can be asserted. (DE 322 at 2.) I then issued an order requesting that plaintiffs submit a proposed plan for severing and transferring their claims, to clarify which claims and parties were involved. (DE 334.) Plaintiffs have done so, by means of a chart, in a format dictated by the court. (DE 335.) I informed the defendants that failure to propose a transferee district as an alternative to dismissal would be deemed a waiver of any objection to the transferee district chosen by the court. (DE 334.) Most defendants have responded by requesting that I dismiss plaintiffs’ claims. (DE 328; DE 329; DE 331; DE 332.) Defendant HP has proposed in the alternative that the claims against HP be transferred to the District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. (DE 336.) Defendant Kallberg has proposed in the alternative a transfer to the Southern District of Florida. (DE 338.) Defendant Bluesource consents to a transfer to the Middle District of North Carolina, Durham Division, and does not seek dismissal.1 Plaintiffs, for their part, request separate transfers of each case to various districts. (DE 330). As explained below, I will transfer each case to an appropriate district, adhering to the preferences of plaintiffs, who after all, in the event of dismissal, could refile in any appropriate district of their choice. I. Legal Standards A. Transfer Although I have concluded that I lack jurisdiction over plaintiffs’ claims against many of the defendants, I possess the power to transfer the cases to a different court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1631. To do so, however, I must make two findings. First, I must determine that the proposed transferee court is one “in which the action or appeal could have been brought at the time it was filed.” Id. A claim “could have been brought” in any court that has (1) subject matter jurisdiction, (2) personal jurisdiction, and (3) venue. Am. Fin. Res., Inc.

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OJEDA V. LOUIS BERGER GROUP (DOMESTIC), INC., (D.N.J. 2021).

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