Independent Financial Group, LLC v. Quest Trust Company

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL GROUP, LLC, Case No.21-cv-00537-NC 11 Plaintiff, ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE WHY CASE SHOULD NOT BE v. REMANDED 13 QUEST TRUST COMPANY, Re: ECF 1 14 Defendant. 15 Defendant Quest Trust Company removed this case from Monterey County Superior Court on January 22, 2021. ECF 1. In its removal notice, Quest alleges that removal is proper based on diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. ECF 1 at 2. However, in reaching this conclusion Quest incorrectly applied the corporation citizenship test to Plaintiff Independent Financial Group, a limited liability company. ECF 1 at 2, 7. LLCs are treated like partnerships for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction. See Johnson v. Columbia Props. Anchorage, LP, 437 F.3d 894, 899 (9th Cir. 2006). As such, Quest should have listed the citizenship of all of IFG’s members and then evaluated diversity. See 15A Moore’s Federal Practice - Civil §…