STOREY v. SELECT MANAGEMENT RESOURCES, LLC

• Court: District Court, S.D. Indiana
• Decided: July 15, 2021
• Docket: 2:21-cv-00266
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA TERRE HAUTE DIVISION

JANET STOREY, CPA Trustee of The ) Allyn Jeanette Bowers Trust, Successor ) in Interest to the Allan J. Willig Trust, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 2:21-cv-00266-JPH-DLP ) SELECT MANAGEMENT RESOURCES, ) LLC, ) ) Defendant. )

ORDER ON JURISDICTION Plaintiff has filed a complaint alleging that this Court has diversity jurisdiction over this matter. Dkt. 1. For the Court to have diversity jurisdiction, the amount in controversy must exceed $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and the litigation must be between citizens of different states. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). For diversity jurisdiction purposes, "the citizenship of an LLC is the citizenship of each of its members." Thomas v. Guardsmark, LLC, 487 F.3d 531, 534 (7th Cir. 2007). For LLCs, parties must "work back through the ownership structure until [reaching] either individual human beings or a formal corporation with a state of incorporation and a state of principal place of business." Baez-Sanchez v. Sessions, 862 F.3d 638, 641 (7th Cir. 2017); Thomas, 487 F.3d at 534. Here, the complaint identifies Defendant—Select Management Resources, LLC—as an LLC, but it does not identify its members or the citizenship of those members. Counsel has an obligation to analyze subject-matter jurisdiction, Heinen v. Northrop Grumman Corp., 671 F.3d 669, 670 (7th Cir. 2012), anda federal court always has the responsibility to ensure that it has jurisdiction, Hukic v. Aurora Loan Servs., 588 F.3d 420, 427 (7th Cir. 2009). The Court's obligation includes knowing the details of the underlying jurisdictional allegations. See Evergreen Square of Cudahy v. Wis. Hous. and Econ. Dev. Auth., 776 F.3d 463, 465 (7th Cir. 2015) ("the parties' united front is irrelevant since the parties cannot confer subject-matter jurisdiction by agreement... and federal courts are obligated to inquire into the existence of jurisdiction sua sponte’). Therefore, the Court ORDERS Plaintiff to file a jurisdictional statement by August 13, 2021, addressing the issues identified in this order. The jurisdictional statement should also address Plaintiff's citizenship. See RTP LLC v. ORIX Real Estate Capital, Inc., 827 F.3d 689 (7th Cir. 2016). SO ORDERED. Date: 7/15/2021

James Patrick Hanlon United States District Judge Southern District of Indiana

Distribution:

Mark Douglas Hassler HUNT HASSLER & LORENZ, LLP hassler@hkmlawfirm.com