Insight & Commentary on Texas Appellate Law
The Fifth Circuit and the Texas Supreme Court recently reaffirmed the high bar that must be met to find that the plain language of a statute violates the absurdity doctrine.
Under the absurdity doctrine a court will construe a statute by applying the plain meaning of the words used unless it would lead to absurd…
Resolving a longstanding uncertainty in federal district courts, the Fifth Circuit has held that the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA) conflicts with federal procedural rules and therefore does not apply in diversity cases.
Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Holds That the TCPA Does Not Apply in Federal Courts
The Fifth Circuit has affirmed a denial of all attorney fees under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act based on the “outrageous facts” and the conduct of the plaintiff’s attorneys.
Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Denies Attorney Fees Where Attorneys Created Claim for Purpose of Generating Excessive Fee Request
On Tuesday, March 20th, 2014, the United States Senate voted unanimously to confirm President Obama’s nomination of Greg Costa to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Costa previously was appointed as a federal district judge for the Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division, in April of 2012. Prior to his appointment to…
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is preparing to amend existing rules and adopt new ones. These amendments are mostly prompted by the movement toward electronic filing, which is projected to begin in December of this year. But there are some proposed changes that could affect your malpractice premiums and you will want to…
For the purpose of determining diversity jurisdiction, is a limited liability company a citizen of the state where it is organized or is it a citizen of the states of which its members are citizens?
In an issue of first impression, the Fifth Circuit, in Harvey v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co., held that a limited liability company, for diversity jurisdiction purposes, depends on the citizenship of its members.
In Grey Wolf, the plaintiffs, Louisiana residents, sued Grey Wolf in the Eastern District of Louisiana on diversity jurisdiction grounds. Grey Wolf was a Texas LP with members that included an LLC with members in Texas and Nevada, but was organized in Louisiana. The district court applied 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c), a statute governing citizenship of corporations, to the LLC, and held that (1) an LLC’s citizenship is determined by where it is organized; and (2) that the parties lacked diversity jurisdiction.
The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court’s opinion because:
· Every Circuit Court that had dealt with the issue held that citizenship would be determined by the LLC’s members;
· The district court’s holding was inconsistent with Supreme Court jurisprudence;
· The district court’s opinion conflicted with § 1332(c)(1)’s language;
· Louisiana law clearly distinguished LLCs from Corporations.
*For more insight on the district court’s reasoning, see Debra R. Cohen’s article "Limited Liability Company Citizenship: Reconsidering an Illogical and Inconsistent Choice", 90 Marq. L. Rev. 269 (2006).Continue Reading Determining Diversity of Jurisdiction for Limited Liabililty Corporations
