Fellowes, Inc. v. Changzhou

Dist. Ct. lacked jurisdiction to consider plaintiff’s breach of contract action against defendant-Chinese limited liability company under international diversity jurisdiction provisions of 28 USC section 1332(a)(2). Defendant’s status as limited liability company meant that company itself did not have its own citizenship, but that defendant’s citizenship for diversity purposes was citizenship of each individual member of said company. As such, Dist. Ct. lacked jurisdiction because one member of defendant’s company shared same Illinois citizenship as plaintiff.