Dist. Ct. did not err in denying plaintiff’s Rule 27 petition seeking to depose member of parent entity of LLC under circumstances where plaintiff wanted to bring federal diversity claim against LLC, and where plaintiff sought to have member identify members of LLC for purpose of obtaining information about their citizenship so as to allow plaintiff to bring federal action. Dist. Ct. could properly find that plaintiff could not use Rule 27 to obtain said information, since: (1) Rule 27 requires showing at outset that plaintiff’s case would be cognizable in federal court, and plaintiff could not do so absence knowledge of citizenship of LLC members; and (2) plaintiff failed to show that deposition to elicit member’s testimony was necessary to prevent member’s testimony from being lost. Ct. further noted that purpose of Rule 27 is to perpetuate testimony, and plaintiff could not use Rule 27 to obtain jurisdictional discovery.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Civil Procedure