Recent Developments In Diversity Jurisdiction For LLCs And Other Unincorporated Forms

Introduction

A prior column¹ addressed some of the basic principles employed in assessing the citizenship, for purposes of diversity jurisdiction, of an LLC. A trio of recent developments justify a return to the topic. First, in LincolnBenefit Life v. AEI Life, LLC,² the Third Circuit provided important guidance as to when pleading "on information and belief " will be sufficient to survive a facial challenge. Second, there is the question of the taxonomy of foreign (i.e., non-U.S.) entities as being treated as either incorporated or unincorporated. Third, the ABA has passed a resolution calling upon Congress to amend 28 USC §1332, the statute govern­ing diversity jurisdiction, to extend the treatment now given to corporations to unincorporated entities.