Thursday, November 13, 2014

Diversity Jurisdiction and Series


Diversity Jurisdiction and Series

 

It is possible that a suit currently pending in Louisiana will provide some direction as to how citizenship is assessed for purposes of the availability (or not) of diversity jurisdiction when one of the parties is a series entity.  On the other hand, maybe this opportunity will be lost. Alphonse v. Arch Bay Holdings, LLC, Civil Act. No. 12-330 (E.D. Louisiana).
 
This lawsuit arose out of a plain-vanilla foreclosure action wherein Alphonse challenged the loss of his home pursuant to a “confession of judgment clause” in his note. That note was held by Arch Bay Holdings, L.L.C.-Series 2010B, a series of a Delaware LLC.  In a prior decision of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, a number of points were addressed, including the court leaving open the possibility that the internal shield of liabilities between the series might not be respected under Louisiana law.  As of now that question remains open.  That earlier decision WAS REVIEWED HERE.
 
 
The most recent decision rendered in this case addresses supplemental jurisdiction and diversity.  Alphonse v. Arch Bay Holdings, LLC, 2014 WL 4792181 (E.D. La. Sept. 24, 2014). In this decision, the Court noted that Arch Bay Holdings, as well as another defendant, Specialized Loan Servicing, LLC, had failed to comply with an earlier order identifying their respective citizenships. Only if there is actual diversity can the Court exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims remaining in this dispute.  To that end, the parties were ordered to file the necessary information as to citizenship.
 
The interesting question is whether Arch Bay Holdings is obligated to provide information as to the citizenship of all of its members, irrespective of association with any particular series, or whether citizenship will be determined at the series level, in which case presumably only the citizenship of those persons associated with that series will be relevant. Either way, the answer will be interesting.
 

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