Blue Hill Specialty Insurance Co v. Cricket Transport L L C ( 2022 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA SHREVEPORT DIVISION BLUE HILL SPECIALTY INSURANCE CO CIVIL ACTION NO. 22-cv-259 VERSUS JUDGE ELIZABETH E. FOOTE CRICKET TRANSPORT, LLC, ET AL MAGISTRATE JUDGE HORNSBY MEMORANDUM ORDER Blue Hill Specialty Insurance Co. filed this complaint for declaratory judgment based on an assertion of diversity jurisdiction, which places the burden on it to set forth specific allegations that show complete diversity of citizenship of the parties and an amount in controversy over $75,000. The allegations in the complaint are sufficient with one exception. The complaint alleges that defendant Cricket Transport, LLC is a limited liability company “whose only agents, members, or managers are citizens of the State of Louisiana.” The citizenship of an LLC is determined by the citizenship of all of its members. Harvey v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co., 542 F.3d 1077 (5th Cir. 2008). “A party seeking to establish diversity jurisdiction must specifically allege the citizenship of every member of every LLC or partnership involved in a litigation.” Settlement Funding, L.L.C. v. Rapid Settlements, Ltd., 851 F.3d 530, 536 (5th Cir. 2017). If the members are themselves partnerships, LLCs, corporations or other form of entity, their citizenship must be alleged in accordance with the rules applicable to that entity, and the citizenship must be traced through however many layers of members or partners there may be. Mullins v. TestAmerica Inc., 564 F.3d 386, 397-98 (Sth Cir. 2009); Rodidaco, Inc. v. Chesapeake Energy Louisiana Corp. 2018 WL 3551525 (W.D. La. 2018). The general allegation that all of the members of the LLC are citizens of Louisiana is not sufficient. To meet its burden, Blue Hill must file an amended complaint that specifically identifies each of the members of Cricket and sets forth the citizenship of each member. Because Blue Hill may not have access to that information at this stage of the litigation, the court will not set a deadline for the filing of an amended complaint. Blue Hill may file an amended complaint and set forth the necessary citizenship information. Alternatively, Blue Hill may also ask Cricket to set forth the information in its answer to the complaint. The required information must be set forth in the record with specificity before jurisdiction can be ensured and a scheduling conference set. THUS DONE AND SIGNED in Shreveport, Louisiana, this 3rd day of February, 2022. rAd Mark L. Hornsby U.S. Magistrate Judge Page 2 of 2