FS Medical Supplies, LLC v. Tanner Pharma UK Limited, et al.

The federal diversity-jurisdiction statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1332, grants district courts jurisdiction over civil actions with more than $75,000 in controversy that are “between … citizens of different States and in which citizens or subjects of a foreign state are additional parties.” 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(3). Petitioner is a limited liability company with members who were citizens of Texas, California, and China. It brought suit against respondents, who were citizens of North Carolina and the United Kingdom. Thus, the jurisdictional lineup was: Tex. Plaintiff Cal. China Defendant 1 U.K. Defendant 2 N.C. Defendant 3 N.C. Defendant 4 N.C. The Fourth Circuit held that because of petitioner’s Chinese member, “there isn’t a U.S. citizen on the plaintiff side. So we don’t have a suit between ‘citizens of different States.’” App. 10a (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(3)). The question presented is: Whether 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(3) confers diversity jurisdiction over a civil action in which the sole plaintiff is an LLC with both state and foreign citizenship, the defendants include both state and foreign citizens, and the state citizenships on opposite sides are completely diverse.