Simon-Leveque et al v. Safeguard Properties Management, LLC
| BRIA SIMON, NICHOLAS SIMON and Denise Simon-Leveque |
| Safeguard Properties Management, LLC |
| 1:2020cv04401 |
| July 28, 2020 |
| US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois |
| Steven C Seeger |
| Other Fraud |
| 28 U.S.C. ยง 1332 |
| Plaintiff |
Docket Report
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| Filing 8 MINUTE entry before the Honorable Steven C. Seeger: Based upon the filed Notice of Dismissal (Dckt. No. #7 ), this case is dismissed without prejudice. All pending deadlines are stricken. Civil case terminated. Mailed notice. (jjr, ) |
| Filing 7 NOTICE of Voluntary Dismissal by All Plaintiffs Without Prejudice (Brown, Daniel) |
| Filing 6 MINUTE entry before the Honorable Steven C. Seeger: Plaintiffs Denise Simon-Leveque, Nicholas Simon, and Bria Simon filed a complaint against Safeguard Properties Management, LLC, invoking this Court's diversity jurisdiction. The jurisdictional allegations of the complaint are inadequate. Plaintiffs state that they are "residents" of Illinois. See Cplt. at para. 6, 8, 10. But what matters for purposes of diversity jurisdiction is citizenship, not residence. See Stoller v. Walworth County, 770 Fed. Appx. 762, 765 (7th Cir. 2019); RTP LLC v. ORIX Real Estate Capital, Inc., 827 F.3d 689, 692 (7th Cir. 2016) ("Citizenship depends not on residence but on domicile, which means the place where a person intends to live in the long run. It is possible to reside in one state while planning to return to a long-term residence in another state."). Maybe Plaintiffs are citizens of Illinois, not just residents. But if so, they must expressly allege their citizenship to establish this Court's jurisdiction. The complaint's allegations about Defendant Safeguard Properties Management, LLC are inadequate, too. The complaint alleges that Safeguard is a "Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business in Ohio." See Cplt. at para. 12. But for purposes of diversity jurisdiction, the principal place of business of an LLC makes no difference. For purposes of diversity, a limited liability company is deemed to be a citizen of each state where its members are citizens. See Martin v. Living Essentials, LLC, 653 Fed. Appx. 482, 485 (7th Cir. 2016) ("[T]he home 'base' of a limited liability company, or LLC, is irrelevant, given that an LLC has the citizenship of each of its members."); Thomas v. Guardmark, LLC, 487 F.3d 531, 534 (7th Cir. 2007) ("For diversity jurisdictional purposes, the citizenship of an LLC is the citizenship of each of its members."); Cosgrove v. Bartolotta, 150 F.3d 729, 731 (7th Cir. 1998) ("[T]he citizenship of an LLC for purposes of the diversity jurisdiction is the citizenship of its members."); Fellowes, Inc. v. Changzhou Xinrui Fellowes Office Equip. Co., 759 F.3d 787, 787-88 (7th Cir. 2014). The complaint does allege that "Safeguard is not a citizen of Illinois." See Cplt. at para. 13. But it is not sufficient to allege diversity of citizenship in the negative. That is, it is not good enough to allege that Party X is not a citizen of State Y. A complaint cannot "'merely allege diversity of citizenship without identifying the [parties'] states of citizenship,' for that is no better than a 'bare assertion that the defendants are citizens of another state different from the Plaintiff.'" Dancel v. Groupon, Inc., 940 F.3d 381, 385 (7th Cir. 2019) (citing Dalton v. Teva N. Am., 891 F.3d 687, 690 (7th Cir. 2018)); see also Johnson v. National Asset Advisors, LLC, 772 Fed. Appx. 328, 329 (7th Cir. 2019) (citing the "need," when "diversity of citizenship is invoked, to identify the citizenship of each party to the case"). A "naked declaration that there is diversity of citizenship is never sufficient." Thomas v. Guardsmark, LLC, 487 F.3d 531, 533 (7th Cir. 2007); see also McCready v. eBay, Inc., 453 F.3d 882, 890-91 (7th Cir. 2006). The complaint does not disclose where Safeguard is a citizen, let alone identify its members and reveal their citizenship. The Court will give Plaintiffs another try. By August 14, 2020, Plaintiffs shall file a statement that discloses where they are citizens. Plaintiffs also must establish the citizenship of Defendant by identifying all of its members and revealing their citizenship. Plaintiffs shall show cause why this case should not be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Mailed notice. (jjr, ) |
| Filing 5 MINUTE entry before the Honorable Steven C. Seeger: An initial status report is due by October 12, 2020. Counsel must read the Standing Order entitled "Initial Status Conferences and Joint Initial Status Reports" on the Court's website. The parties must discuss settlement in good faith and make a serious attempt to resolve this case amicably. The parties also must confer as required by Rule 26(f) about the nature, scope, and duration of discovery. The parties must submit two documents to the Court. First, the parties must file the Joint Initial Status Report under Rule 26(f) on the docket. A Word version of the Joint Initial Status Report is available on the Court's website. Second, the parties must submit a Word version of a proposed Scheduling Order under Rule 16(b) to the Court's proposed order inbox. Lead counsel for the parties must participate in filing the initial status report. Plaintiff must serve this Order on all other parties. If the defendant has not been served with process, plaintiff's counsel must contact the Courtroom Deputy at jessica_j_ramos@ilnd.uscourts.gov to reschedule the initial status report deadline. Plaintiff should not file the Joint Initial Status Report before the defendant(s) has been served with process. All counsel of record must read and comply with this Court's Standing Orders on its webpage. Please pay special attention to the Standing Orders about Depositions and Discovery. Mailed notice. (jjr, ) |
| Filing 3 ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiffs BRIA SIMON, NICHOLAS SIMON, Denise Simon-Leveque by Daniel Richard Brown (Brown, Daniel) |
| Filing 2 CIVIL Cover Sheet (Brown, Daniel) |
| Filing 1 COMPLAINT filed by Denise Simon-Leveque, BRIA SIMON, NICHOLAS SIMON; Jury Demand. Filing fee $ 400, receipt number 0752-17258291.(Brown, Daniel) |
| CASE ASSIGNED to the Honorable Steven C. Seeger. Designated as Magistrate Judge the Honorable Gabriel A. Fuentes. Case assignment: Random assignment. (daj, ) |
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