Repeat After Me: There Are No Monsters Under the Bed, and There Is No Such Thing as a Limited Liability “Corporation”

Repeat After Me:  There Are No Monsters Under the Bed, and There Is No Such Thing as a Limited Liability “Corporation”

It remains distressing how often courts, in writing decisions about “limited liability companies,” recite that the party is a “limited liability corporation.” Recently that term found its way into a decision of the Nebraska Supreme Court even as the same sentence referred to the “the Nebraska Uniform Limited Liability Company Act.” Benjamin v. Bierman, 305 Neb. 879, 885, 943 N.W.2d 283 (May 22, 2020).

But do not go thinking this was an aberrational error. Rather it happens all the time and across the country. A quick search on Google Scholar found ten decisions addressing “limited liability corporations” in just the last three weeks:

United States v. Tartaglione

Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit, 2020 

Instead, as she asserts, those funds passed directly from the Clinic to third-party contractors for improvements to a building that Tartaglione owned through a limited liability corporation. But the District Court did not commit any error, much less plain error, in its forfeiture …

USCHOLD v. NSMG Shared Services, LLC

Dist. Court, ND California, 2020 

The Parties. Defendant NSMG is a limited liability corporation organized under Delaware law; the company maintains its principal place of business in Houston Texas.

Guevara v. Constar Financial Services, LLC

Dist. Court, MD Pennsylvania, 2020 

Plaintiff is a "natural person who was obligated to pay a debt to Hyundai Motor Finance" ("Hyundai"). Defendant is a limited liability corporation and a debt collector

In the Matter of the Marriage of  Miller v. Miller

Wash: Court of Appeals, 1st Div., 2020 

It also determined three of four businesses controlled by Zachary—a real estate limited liability corporation and two gyms—were community property, awarded them to him, and offset the award with a $38,000 payment to Madalyn …

City of Vista v.Telekom Transportation, LLC

Dist. Court, SD California, 2020 

CITY OF CITY OF VISTA, a California Municipality, Plaintiff, v. TELEKOM

TRANSPORTATION, LLC, a California Limited Liability Corporation

In re MDL 2700 Genentech Herceptin (Trastuzumab) Marketing and Sales Practice Litigation
Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit, 2020 

OF CENTRAL NEW YORK, PC, a New York Professional Corporation; VIRGINIA

CANCER INSTITUTE, a Virginia Commonwealth Professional Corporation; TENNESSEE

ONCOLOGY, PLLC, a Tennessee Professional Limited Liability Corporation

AM v. MME LLC

2020 NY Slip Op 31664 - NY: Supreme Court, 2020 

A conference is not required for the Court to issue the instant Decision and Order. Here, AP Marketing contends it is a foreign limited liability corporation subject to the service requirements of LLCL § 304. It further … 

Douglas Co. v. My Brittany’s LLC

2020 DNH 89 - Dist. Court, D. New Hampshire, 2020

My Brittany's is a limited liability corporation organized under the laws of Michigan,

with a principal place of business in Wixom, Michigan … [2] “DollsHobbiesNMore” is a “dba” ofSultana Enterprises, LLC, a Michigan limited liability corporation. Neither is a named defendant

Russell v. South Shore Indus. Ltd. 

2020 NY Slip Op 31600 - NY: Supreme Court, 2020

Defendant Wal-Mart Stores East, Inc. has not existed since 2011 and was converted to Wal-Mart Stores East, LLC, which is a foreign (Delaware) limited liability corporation with its principal place of business in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Ozone Int’l LLC v. Wheatsheaf Group US, INC.

Dist. Court, WD Washington, 2020 

(“WGUS”), a Delaware corporation with a principal place of business in Minnesota, and Wheatsheaf Group US Food Safety LLC d/b/a TriStrata (“TriStrata”), a Delaware limited liability corporation based in Washington. 

      Okay, maybe there are monsters under some beds; on that I cannot be sure.  But I am sure that there is no such thing as a “limited liability corporation,” and they should not be appearing in court decisions.  More so, I would not be surprised if the genesis of the error is in the pleadings filed by counsel who use the term.