Fifty Associates v. The Prudential Insurance Company of America

This appeal could be dubbed Phase Two of our efforts to effectuate a final resolution of this legal dispute. Originally, we vacated the foreclosure judgment entered in favor of Prudential (the district court having granted its motion for summary judgment) on the grounds that Prudential’s allegations were insufficient to establish diversity jurisdiction and that its inclusion of the State of Arizona (Arizona State Tax Commission) as a defendant precluded the possibility of establishing such jurisdiction. Fifty Associates v. Prudential Insurance Company of America, 446 F.2d 1187 (9th Cir. 1970). In remanding to the district court, we stated that Prudential could renew its motion for summary judgment if (1) diversity jurisdiction could be established by amendments to the complaint which were consistent with our expressed views and (2) it could be demonstrated that the Tax Commission was not an indispensable party to the action and was dismissed from the case.

On remand, Prudential established diversity jurisdiction by properly amending its complaint to comply with the requirements of Title 28 U.S.C. § 1332 . Additionally, it was able to demonstrate that the Tax Commission was indeed…