NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MAR 11 2020

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

GABRIEL M. BRISTOL, No. 18-16385

Plaintiff-counter- D.C. No. 2:16-cv-00705-JCM- defendant-Appellee, CWH

v.

MEMORANDUM*

ELIZABETH JOAN HUGHES, Individually and as Trustee of the Scorpio Trust dated January 28, 2015,

Defendant-counter-claimant- Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada James C. Mahan, District Judge, Presiding

Submitted March 3, 2020**

Before: MURGUIA, CHRISTEN, and BADE, Circuit Judges.

Elizabeth Joan Hughes appeals from the district court’s judgment dismissing

for lack of diversity jurisdiction her counterclaims in Gabriel M. Bristol’s action

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). alleging contract claims. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We

review de novo a dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Federal

Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). Naffe v. Frey, 789 F.3d 1030, 1035 (9th Cir.

2015). We vacate and remand.

The district court properly dismissed Hughes’s counterclaims on the basis of

Hughes’s insufficient allegations to establish complete diversity between the

parties. However, it is not clear on review that the defective allegations of

jurisdiction in Hughes’s countercomplaint could not have been cured by

amendment. See 28 U.S.C. § 1653 (permitting amendment of defective allegations

of jurisdiction); Snell v. Cleveland, Inc., 316 F.3d 822, 828 n.6 (9th Cir. 2002)

(“Dismissal without leave to amend is improper unless it is clear, upon de novo

review, that the complaint could not be saved by amendment.” (citation omitted)).

Accordingly, we vacate the judgment as to Hughes’s counterclaims, and

remand for the district court to provide Hughes with an opportunity to amend her

countercomplaint.

VACATED AND REMANDED.

2 18-16385