DPG Investments LLC v. Anderson ( 2021 )

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 DPG Investments LLC, et al., No. CV-20-01386-PHX-DWL 10 Plaintiffs, ORDER 11 v. 12 Westley G Anderson, et al., 13 Defendants. 14 15 The parties have filed a stipulation requesting that the Court transfer this action to 16 the Superior Court of Cobb County in the State of Georgia for consolidation with the 17 litigation venued there styled DPG Investments, LLC; Spring Tree Holdings, LLC; Spring 18 Tree Lending, LLC; and Spring Tree Financial, LLC v. Westley G. Anderson, Superior 19 Court of Cobb County for the State of Georgia, Case No. 2017-0175712-CV (the “Cobb 20 Litigation”). (Doc. 24.) 21 The parties cite “28 U.S.C. § 1406 and the Court’s inherent authority” as sources of 22 authority for this proposed transfer from the District of Arizona to a state court in Georgia. 23 However, the statue allows the Court to transfer a case “to any district or division in which 24 it could have been brought,” which the Court interprets as allowing transfer to another 25 federal court. Cf. Buffalo Biodiesel, Inc. v. Schneiderman, 2017 WL 4326103, *7-10 26 (W.D.N.Y. 2017), report and recommendation adopted, 2017 WL 4285901 (W.D.N.Y. 27 2017) (summarizing cases holding that federal courts lack the power under 28 U.S.C. § 28 1404 to transfer originally commenced federal actions to a state court). The parties have 1 || provided no support for the proposition that the statute (or the Court’s “inherent authority’’) || permit a federal court to transfer a case to a state court. 3 The parties may, if they so choose, stipulate to dismissal of this action without prejudice and then refile in Georgia state court (and seek consolidation there). 5 IT IS ORDERED that the parties’ stipulation (Doc. 24) is denied without || prejudice. The parties may (1) file a new stipulation requesting a transfer to Georgia state court that includes authority establishing that such a transfer is permissible or (2) file a 8 || stipulation of dismissal without prejudice and then refile in Georgia state court and seek consolidation there. 10 Dated this 25th day of February, 2021. 11 7 4 fu Wolanna 13 United States District Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -2-