Sentinel Insurance Company, Limited v. Victory Park Capital Advisors, LLC et al

Docket(#11) MINUTE entry before the Honorable Steven C. Seeger: Pursuant to the Notice of Voluntary Dismissal (Dckt. No. #10 ) and under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1), this case is dismissed without prejudice. Each party shall bear its own costs and respective attorney's fees. All pending deadlines and hearings are stricken. Civil case terminated. Mailed notice. (jjr, ) (Entered: 10/09/2020)

Docket(#10) NOTICE of Voluntary Dismissal by Sentinel Insurance Company, Limited Without Prejudice (O'malley, Michael) (Entered: 10/08/2020)

Docket(#9) MINUTE entry before the Honorable Steven C. Seeger: The Motion for Extension of Time to Supplement Complaint (Dckt. No. #7 ) is hereby granted. As proposed, the Court extends the deadline by two weeks. Plaintiff shall file a statement that establishes this Court's diversity jurisdiction by October 14, 2020. Mailed notice. (jjr, ) (Entered: 09/30/2020)

Docket(#8) NOTICE of Motion by Michael John Duffy for presentment of (Duffy, Michael) (Entered: 09/29/2020)

Docket(#7) MOTION by Plaintiff Sentinel Insurance Company, Limited for extension of time to Supplement Complaint (Duffy, Michael) (Entered: 09/29/2020)

Docket(#6) MINUTE entry before the Honorable Steven C. Seeger: The Court reviewed the complaint, which invokes this Court's diversity jurisdiction. Plaintiff Sentinel Insurance Co. is a citizen of Connecticut. Defendant Victory Park Capital Advisors, LLC is a limited liability company "headquartered in Chicago, Illinois." For purposes of diversity, a limited liability company is deemed to be a citizen of each state where its members are citizens. See Martin v. Living Essentials, LLC, 653 Fed. Appx. 482, 485 (7th Cir. 2016) ("[T]he home 'base' of a limited liability company, or LLC, is irrelevant, given that an LLC has the citizenship of each of its members."); Thomas v. Guardmark, LLC, 487 F.3d 531, 534 (7th Cir. 2007) ("For diversity jurisdictional purposes, the citizenship of an LLC is the citizenship of each of its members."); Cosgrove v. Bartolotta, 150 F.3d 729, 731 (7th Cir. 1998) ("[T]he citizenship of an LLC for purposes of the diversity jurisdiction is the citizenship of its members."); Fellowes, Inc. v. Changzhou Xinrui Fellowes Office Equip. Co., 759 F.3d 787, 787-88 (7th Cir. 2014). The complaint alleges that "[n]o member of Victory Park is a citizen of Connecticut." But the complaint does not identify any of the members, let alone disclose their citizenship. It is not sufficient to allege diversity of citizenship in the negative. That is, it is not good enough to allege that Party X is not a citizen of State Y. A complaint cannot "'merely allege diversity of citizenship without identifying the [parties'] states of citizenship,' for that is no better than a 'bare assertion that the defendants are citizens of another state different from the Plaintiff.'" Dancel v. Groupon, Inc., 940 F.3d 381, 385 (7th Cir. 2019) (citing Dalton v. Teva N. Am., 891 F.3d 687, 690 (7th Cir. 2018)); see also Johnson v. National Asset Advisors, LLC, 772 Fed. Appx. 328, 329 (7th Cir. 2019) (citing the "need," when "diversity of citizenship is invoked, to identify the citizenship of each party to the case"). A "naked declaration that there is diversity of citizenship is never sufficient." Thomas v. Guardsmark, LLC, 487 F.3d 531, 533 (7th Cir. 2007); see also McCready v. eBay, Inc., 453 F.3d 882, 890-91 (7th Cir. 2006). The complaint does not disclose where Victory Park is a citizen, let alone identify its members and reveal their citizenship. The Court will give Plaintiff another try. By September 30, 2020, Plaintiff shall file a statement that discloses the citizenship of the Defendants. Plaintiff must establish the citizenship of Defendant by identifying all of its members and revealing their citizenship. Plaintiffs shall show cause why this case should not be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Mailed notice. (jjr, ) (Entered: 09/17/2020)

Docket(#5) MINUTE entry before the Honorable Steven C. Seeger: An initial status report is due by November 30, 2020. Counsel must read the Standing Order entitled "Initial Status Conferences and Joint Initial Status Reports" on the Court's website. The parties must discuss settlement in good faith and make a serious attempt to resolve this case amicably. The parties also must confer as required by Rule 26(f) about the nature, scope, and duration of discovery. The parties must submit two documents to the Court. First, the parties must file the Joint Initial Status Report under Rule 26(f) on the docket. A Word version of the Joint Initial Status Report is available on the Court's website. Second, the parties must email a Word version of a proposed Scheduling Order under Rule 16(b) to the Court's proposed order inbox. Lead counsel for the parties must participate in filing the initial status report. Plaintiff must serve this Order on all other parties. If the defendant has not been served with process, plaintiff's counsel must contact the Courtroom Deputy at jessica_j_ramos@ilnd.uscourts.gov to reschedule the initial status report deadline. Plaintiff should not file the Joint Initial Status Report before the defendant(s) has been served with process. All counsel of record must read and comply with this Court's Standing Orders on its webpage. Please pay special attention to the Standing Orders about Depositions and Discovery. Mailed notice. (jjr, ) (Entered: 09/16/2020)

DocketCASE ASSIGNED to the Honorable Steven C. Seeger. Designated as Magistrate Judge the Honorable Jeffrey Cole. Case assignment: Random assignment. (cp, ) (Entered: 09/15/2020)

Docket(#4) ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiff Sentinel Insurance Company, Limited by Michael John Duffy (Duffy, Michael) (Entered: 09/15/2020)

Docket(#3) ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiff Sentinel Insurance Company, Limited by Michael J O'malley, Secon (O'malley, Michael) (Entered: 09/15/2020)

Docket(#2) CIVIL Cover Sheet (O'malley, Michael) (Entered: 09/15/2020)

Docket(#1) COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY JUDGMENT filed by Sentinel Insurance Company, Limited; Jury Demand. Filing fee $ 400, receipt number 0752-17437641. (Attachments: #1 Exhibit A, #2 Exhibit B, #3 Exhibit C, #4 Exhibit D, #5 Exhibit E)(Duffy, Michael) (Entered: 09/15/2020)