WILLIAM J. ZLOCH, District Judge.
THIS MATTER is before the Court sua sponte. The Court has carefully reviewed the entire court file herein and is otherwise fully advised in the premises.
Defendants Republic National Distributing Company, L.L.C. and Bill Barnes filed their Notice Of Removal (DE 1) on June 2, 2010. The Court's jurisdiction in this matter was premised upon diversity jurisdiction, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332. By prior Order (DE 4), the Court advised Defendants Republic National Distributing Company, L.L.C. and Bill Barnes that their Notice of Removal failed to satisfy the requirements of § 1332 and ordered Defendants to file an Amended Notice of Removal that satisfies the statute. Defendants then filed an Amended Notice of Removal (DE 5); however, it too is insufficient to establish this Court's jurisdiction over the above-styled cause. Thus, remand is required.
These dictates stem from the fact that federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. The presumption, in fact, is that a federal court lacks jurisdiction in a particular case until the parties demonstrate that jurisdiction over the subject matter exists. United States v. Rojas, 429 F.3d 1317, 1320 (11th Cir.2005), citing Turner v. Bank of N. Am., 4 U.S. 8, 10, 4 Dall. 8, 1 L.Ed. 718 (1799). Therefore, the facts showing the existence of jurisdiction must be affirmatively alleged. Taylor v. Appleton, 30 F.3d 1365, 1367 (11th Cir.1994).
It is well settled that the removal statute is to be strictly construed against removal and in favor of remand because a defendant's right to remove and plaintiff's right to choose his forum are not on equal footing. Burns v. Windsor Ins. Co., 31 F.3d 1092, 1095 (11th Cir.1994) (where plaintiff and defendant clash about jurisdiction, uncertainties are resolved in favor of remand); see also Libhart v. Santa Monica Dairy Co., 592 F.2d 1062 (9th Cir.1979).
The Court is mindful of the instruction of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals that prior to remanding a case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction upon the failure of the removing party to properly allege diversity, the district court must grant leave to amend. Corporate Management Advisors Inc. v. Artjen Complexus, Inc., 561 F.3d 1294, 1297-98 (11th Cir. 2009). Accordingly, by prior Order (DE 4), the Court directed Defendants Republic National Distributing Company, L.L.C. and Bill Barnes to amend their Notice of Removal because diversity was not pled so as to satisfy the requirements of § 1332. A review of the Amended Notice Of Removal (DE 5) filed herein reveals that the requisite diversity of citizenship of the Parties is still not apparent on its face. The Amended Notice of Removal (DE 5) states, in relevant part:
DE 5, ¶ 5(b). Defendants aptly recite the requirements of § 1332 regarding the citizenship of corporations; however, the Court notes that a limited liability company is not the equivalent of a corporation for the purposes of § 1332. When determining citizenship, "[a] limited liability company is a citizen of any state of which a member of the company is a citizen." Rolling Greens MHP. L.P. v. Comcast SCH Holdings. L.L.C., 374 F.3d 1020, 1022 (11th Cir.2004). The Amended Notice of Removal altogether lacks allegations regarding the citizenship of all members of Defendant Republic National Distributing Company, L.L.C. Because they have insufficiently
In remanding the above-styled cause due to Defendants' repeated failure to satisfy the requirements of federal jurisdiction, the Court echoes the recently stated sentiment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit:
Smoot v. Mazda Motors of Am., Inc., 469 F.3d 675, 678 (7th Cir.2006).
Accordingly, after due consideration, it is
1. The above-styled cause be and the same is hereby
2. The Clerk of the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, be and the same is hereby
3. To the extent not otherwise disposed of herein, all pending Motions are hereby