Back To School: 7th Circuit Issues Two Decisions On International Diversity Jurisdiction

Putting together all the Seventh Circuit's decisions from the last few decades on subject-matter jurisdiction would yield an impressive textbook on the subject. The court (and Judge Easterbook, in particular) has adhered assiduously to its role as a federal court with limited jurisdiction. Its latest two decisions on this subject (authored by none other than Judge Easterbrook) should be added to the chapter on international diversity jurisdiction.

28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(2) creates diversity jurisdiction between "citizens of a State and citizens or subjects of a foreign state." So far, so good. But many of these cases become tricky when one of the parties is a foreign entity. The general rule (found in § 1332(c)(1)) is that corporations are citizens in only two places: where they are incorporated and where they have their principal places of business. Other collective entities (e.g., LLCs) take on the citizenship of every member or equity investor. The existence of the