Monica Helm v. Eastgate Associates et al

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA SHREVEPORT DIVISION MONICA HELM CIVIL ACTION NO. 25-cv-2036 VERSUS JUDGE S. MAURICE HICKS, JR. EASTGATE ASSOCIATES ET AL MAGISTRATE JUDGE HORNSBY

MEMORANDUM ORDER Defendant Eastgate Associates, LLC filed its Diversity Jurisdiction Disclosure Statement (Doc. 9) and alleged that it “is a limited liability corporation whose members reside in Florida and North Carolina.” (Emphasis added.) Presumably, Eastgate meant to identity itself as a limited liability company and not a corporation. If so, the allegation of where its unidentified members reside is not sufficient to establish its citizenship for purposes of diversity jurisdiction. Eastgate will need to identify its members and allege the state in which they are citizens, which for individuals is the state in which they are domiciled (not where they merely reside.)

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).

If the members are individuals, it is domicile rather than mere residency that decides citizenship for diversity purposes, and “an allegation of residency alone ‘does not satisfy the requirement of an allegation of citizenship.”” Midcap Media Finance, LLC v. Pathway Data, Inc., 929 F.3d 310, 313 (Sth Cir. 2019), quoting Strain v. Harrelson Rubber Co., 742 F.2d 888, 889 (Sth Cir. 1984). A person may reside in multiple states simultaneously, but individual who resides in more than one State is regarded, for purposes of federal subject-matter (diversity) jurisdiction, as a citizen of but one State.” Wachovia Bank v. Schmidt, 126 S. Ct. 941, 951 (2006). That is the state in which the person is domiciled.

Id.; Acridge v. Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Soc., 334 F.3d 444, 451 (Sth Cir. 2003).

Eastgate must file an Amended Diversity Jurisdiction Disclosure Statement that identifies its members and specifically alleges their citizenship in accordance with applicable rules no later than January 21, 2026.

THUS DONE AND SIGNED in Shreveport, Louisiana, this 7th day of January, 2026. =| Mark L. Hornsby U.S. Magistrate Judge Page 2 of 2