Filed: Feb. 29, 2016
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 15-2255 GWENDOLYN A. SPENCE, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY; FORD MOTOR COMPANY INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendants - Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Arenda L. Wright Allen, District Judge. (2:15-cv-00069-AWA-LRL) Submitted: February 25, 2016 Decided: February 29, 2016 Before SHEDD and HARRIS, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit Judge. Affi
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 15-2255 GWENDOLYN A. SPENCE, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY; FORD MOTOR COMPANY INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendants - Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Arenda L. Wright Allen, District Judge. (2:15-cv-00069-AWA-LRL) Submitted: February 25, 2016 Decided: February 29, 2016 Before SHEDD and HARRIS, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit Judge. Affir..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 15-2255
GWENDOLYN A. SPENCE,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
FORD MOTOR COMPANY; FORD MOTOR COMPANY INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Arenda L. Wright Allen, District
Judge. (2:15-cv-00069-AWA-LRL)
Submitted: February 25, 2016 Decided: February 29, 2016
Before SHEDD and HARRIS, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit
Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Gwendolyn A. Spence, Appellant Pro Se. Barry Dorans, WOLCOTT
RIVERS & GATES, Virginia Beach, Virginia; Paul D. Hudson, MILLER,
CANFIELD, PADDOCK & STONE, PLC, Kalamazoo, Michigan, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Gwendolyn A. Spence appeals the district court’s order
dismissing her complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
We affirm.
We review de novo a district court’s dismissal for lack of
subject-matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
12(b)(1). Demetres v. East West Const., Inc.,
776 F.3d 271, 272
(4th Cir. 2015). A plaintiff has the burden of establishing
subject-matter jurisdiction.
Id.
Spence’s complaint alleges federal-question and intellectual-
property jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1338(a) (2012), but
her claims are all based on state law and do not contain any
intellectual-property claims. Although the parties are diverse,
Spence did not allege a dollar amount in her complaint. See JTH
Tax, Inc. v. Frashier,
624 F.3d 635, 638 (4th Cir. 2010) (“Courts
generally determine the amount in controversy by reference to the
plaintiff’s complaint.”); see also Grupo Dataflux v. Atlas Glob.
Grp., L.P.,
541 U.S. 567, 570-71 (2004) (“It has long been the
case that the jurisdiction of the court depends upon the state of
things at the time of the action brought.”). Thus, we conclude
that the district court correctly found itself without subject-
matter jurisdiction.
Accordingly, although we grant Spence’s motion for leave to
file untimely opposition reply brief, we affirm the judgment of
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the district court. We dispense with oral argument because the
facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the
materials before this court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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