Please consider joining well-respected federal litigator Jim Theuer and (less well-respected) me as we present a 2-hour CLE on advanced issues in federal court practice. The CLE is sponsored by the NPBA, and registration information is here. We anticipate the first hour will be dedicated to how to get into and stay out of federal court, taught through a series of vignettes. To whet your appetite, the first is below:
During a lazy Friday afternoon in the office you get a call from a long-time client. The statute of limitations on a contract claim for COMPANY against SUPPLIER runs out on Monday. The in-house counsel for COMPANY wants the suit filed in federal court, as she attended a recent CLE presentation sponsored by the NPBA and is now fascinated by federal procedure.
She tells you the claim is for $350,000. COMPANY is incorporated in Virginia and conducts all of its business in Hampton Roads. She tells you that SUPPLIER is a North Carolina LLC, and its headquarters is in Wilmington, NC, where it does the vast majority of its business.
You get off the phone with the client, ready to spend the rest of your weekend preparing the federal complaint to file in the EDVA on Monday.
You remember the rule from law school quite clearly, diversity exists when corporations are residents of different states and the amount in controversy is more than $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs. You even google the relevant statute, 28 U.S. Code § 1332, and refresh yourself that “a corporation shall be deemed to be a citizen of every State and foreign state by which it has been incorporated and of the State or foreign state where it has its principal place of business. . .”
Should you spend your weekend drafting a complaint to file in the EDVA on Monday?
