UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA 

HAMMOND DIVISION 

ALLIANCE TANK SERVICE, LLC, 

 Third-Party Plaintiff, 

v. CAUSE NO.: 2:14-CV-302-TLS 

GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE 

COMPANY OF NEW YORK, 

 Third-Party Defendant. 

OPINION AND ORDER 

 This matter is before the Court sua sponte. The Court must continuously police its subject 

matter jurisdiction. Hay v. Ind. State Bd. of Tax Comm’rs, 312 F.3d 876, 879 (7th Cir. 2002). 

The Third-Party Complaint, the Amended Third-Party Complaint, and the Second 

Amended Third-Party Complaint allege that the Court’s subject matter jurisdiction is based on 

diversity of citizenship under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. See Third-Party Compl. ¶ 3, ECF No. 9; Am. 

Third-Party Compl. ¶ 3, ECF No. 15; Second Am. Third-Party Compl. ¶ 3, ECF No. 45. 

Diversity jurisdiction exists when the parties to an action on each side are citizens of 

different states, with no defendant a citizen of the same state as any plaintiff, and the amount in 

controversy exceeds $75,000. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1). As the party seeking to invoke this 

Court’s jurisdiction, Third-Party Plaintiff Alliance Tank Service, LLC bears the burden of 

demonstrating that the jurisdictional requirements have been met. Hertz Corp. v. Friend, 559 

U.S. 77, 96 (2010); Smart v. Local 702 Int’l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, 562 F.3d 798, 802–03 (7th 

Cir. 2009). A failure to meet that burden can result in a dismissal. See Mut. Assignment & Indem. 

Co. v. Lind-Waldock & Co., LLC, 364 F.3d 858, 861 (7th Cir. 2004). In this case, Third-Party 
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Plaintiff has sufficiently alleged the citizenship of Defendant Great American Insurance 

Company and that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. 

 However, the Third-Party Complaint alleges that Third-Party Plaintiff Alliance Tank 

Services, LLC “is a limited liability company organized under the laws of the State of 

Oklahoma, which maintains its principal place of business located in Cushing, Oklahoma.” 

Third-Party Compl. ¶ 1. The Amended Third-Party Complaint and the Second Amended ThirdParty Complaint make an identical allegation of citizenship. See Am. Third-Party Compl. ¶ 1; 

Second Am. Third-Party Compl. ¶ 1. This allegation of citizenship is deficient because a limited 

liability company is analogous to a partnership and takes the citizenship of its members. 

Belleville Catering Co. v. Champaign Mkt. Place, LLC, 350 F.3d 691, 692 (7th Cir. 2003). 

 If the members of the limited liability company are themselves limited liability 

companies, the Third-Party Plaintiff must also plead the citizenship of those members as of the 

date the Third-Party Complaint was filed. Thomas v. Guardsmark, LLC, 487 F.3d 531, 534 (7th 

Cir. 2007) (“[A]n LLC’s jurisdictional statement must identify the citizenship of each of its 

members as of the date the complaint or notice of removal was filed, and, if those members have 

members, the citizenship of those members as well.”). 

 If any of the members are natural persons, the allegation of citizenship must identify the 

person’s domicile, not the person’s residence. See Heinen v. Northrop Grumman Corp., 671 F.3d 

669, 670 (7th Cir. 2012) (“But residence may or may not demonstrate citizenship, which depends 

on domicile . . . . An allegation of ‘residence’ is therefore deficient.”); Am’s Best Inns, Inc. v. 

Best Inns of Abilene, L.P., 980 F.2d 1072, 1074 (7th Cir. 1992) (citing Gilbert v. David, 235 U.S. 

561 (1915)). 
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 Accordingly, the Court ORDERS Third-Party Plaintiff Alliance Tank Service, LLC to 

FILE, on or before March 2, 2020, a supplemental jurisdictional statement identifying the 

citizenship on December 8, 2014, the date the Third-Party Complaint was filed, each of the 

members of Alliance Tank Service, LLC and, if any of the members themselves have members, 

the citizenship of those members, and so on until the citizenship of all owners and members of 

members have been identified. 

 SO ORDERED on January 29, 2020. 

s/ Theresa L. Springmann 

CHIEF JUDGE THERESA L. SPRINGMANN 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT