Opinion
Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-01830-RM-KLM
06-23-2020
GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY, as subrogee of AJB Ranch LP Prospect Ranch, Plaintiff, v. CREST STRUCTIONS, LLC, and UNITED DEVELOPMENT, LLC, Defendants.
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
This matter is before the Court sua sponte upon consideration of Plaintiff's complaint (ECF No. 1). A federal court has an independent obligation to examine its own jurisdiction at every stage of the proceeding. Amazon, Inc. v. Dirt Camp, Inc., 273 F.3d 1271, 1276 (10th Cir. 2001). "The party invoking federal jurisdiction bears the burden of establishing such jurisdiction as a threshold matter." Radil v. Sanborn W. Camps, Inc., 384 F.3d 1220, 1224 (10th Cir. 2004).
The caption of the complaint indicates that Defendants are limited liability companies, but the body of the complaint states that they are corporations. (See ECF No. 1 at ¶¶ 3, 4.) The distinction matters because "an unincorporated entity's citizenship is typically determined by its members' citizenship," Grynberg v. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P., 805 F.3d 901, 905-06 (10th Cir. 2015), and the complaint does not contain any allegations regarding the citizenship of Defendants' members. Thus, if they are in fact limited liability companies, the Court cannot ascertain whether it has diversity subject-matter jurisdiction over this case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332. See Penteco Corp. Ltd. P'ship.-1985A v. Union Gas Sys., Inc., 929 F.2d 1519, 1521 (10th Cir. 1991) (recognizing that allegations of diversity must generally be pleaded affirmatively to demonstrate federal jurisdiction under § 1332). It is therefore ORDERED that, on or before June 30, 2020, Plaintiff shall SHOW CAUSE why this case should not be dismissed due to uncertainty as to (1) whether Defendants are limited liability companies or corporations, and (2) if the former, whether the citizenship of their members comports with the requirements for diversity jurisdiction.
DATED this 23rd day of June, 2020.
BY THE COURT:
/s/_________
RAYMOND P. MOORE
United States District Judge