KATHERINE P. NELSON, Magistrate Judge.
This action is before the Court sua sponte on review of its subject matter jurisdiction.
Travaglio v. Am. Exp. Co., 735 F.3d 1266, 1268 (11th Cir. 2013) (footnote omitted). See also, e.g., Ray v. Bird & Son & Asset Realization Co., Inc., 519 F.2d 1081, 1082 (5th Cir. 1975) ("The burden of pleading diversity of citizenship is upon the party invoking federal jurisdiction . . ." (citing Mas v. Perry, 489 F.2d 1396 (5th Cir. 1974)).
The Plaintiffs have alleged sufficient facts demonstrating their own citizenship, as each Plaintiff, a "foreign corporate entity," has alleged "every State and foreign state by which it has been incorporated and of the State or foreign state where it has its principal place of business . . ." 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1); (Doc. 1 at 2-3, ¶ 4-5). As such, for purposes of diversity jurisdiction, Plaintiff Univalor Trust, SA is deemed a citizen of Switzerland,
The Plaintiffs have also alleged that the natural person Defendant, Chester F. English, III, is a "citizen" of New Jersey (Doc. 1 at 4, ¶ 11) and have thus alleged sufficient facts to establish his citizenship. See, e.g., Taylor v. Appleton, 30 F.3d 1365, 1367 (11th Cir. 1994) ("
However, the Plaintiffs have failed to allege facts showing the citizenships of the five limited liability company (LLC) Defendants. The Plaintiffs have treated the LLC Defendants like corporations for purposes of diversity, alleging the states in which they were formed and where their principal places of business are located. This is not acceptable, however. The general rule for diversity is "that the citizenship of an artificial, unincorporated entity generally depends on the citizenship of all the members composing the organization." Rolling Greens, MHP, L.P. v. Comcast SCH Holdings, L.L.C., 374 F.3d 1020, 1021 (11th Cir. 2004) (per curiam) (citing Carden v. Arkoma Assocs., 494 U.S. 185, 195-96 (1990)). For purposes of assessing diversity of citizenship, "a limited liability company is a citizen of any state of which a member of the company is a citizen." Id. at 1022. Accord Mallory & Evans Contractors & Eng'rs, LLC v. Tuskegee Univ., 663 F.3d 1304, 1305 (11th Cir. 2011) (per curiam). Therefore, to sufficiently allege the citizenship of an LLC, "a party must list the citizenships of all the members of the limited liability company . . ." Rolling Greens, 374 F.3d at 1022. This "can require tracing through several layers." BouMatic, LLC v. Idento Operations, BV, 759 F.3d 790, 791 (7th Cir. 2014) (citing Cosgrove v. Bartolotta, 150 F.3d 729 (7th Cir. 1998) (citizenship of an LLC depends on citizenship of its members, traced through as many levels as necessary to reach corporations or natural persons)). See also Azzo v. Jetro Rest. Depot, LLC, No. 3:11-CV-324-J-34JRK, 2011 WL 1357557, at *2 n.2 (M.D. Fla. Apr. 11, 2011) (in pleading the citizenships of the members, "each member's citizenship must [also] be properly alleged, be it an individual, corporation, LLC, or other entity").
"Defective allegations of jurisdiction may be amended, upon terms, in the trial or appellate courts." 28 U.S.C. § 1653. "[L]eave to amend should be freely granted when necessary to cure a failure to allege jurisdiction properly." Majd-Pour v. Georgiana Cmty. Hosp., Inc., 724 F.2d 901, 903 n.1 (11th Cir. 1984)). Accordingly, the Plaintiffs hereby
Additionally, the Plaintiffs have not filed disclosure statement in accordance with S.D. Ala. CivLR 7.1