Thanks for visiting! Welcome to a new way to research case law. You are viewing a free summary from Descrybe.ai. For citation and good law / bad law checking, legal issue analysis, and other advanced tools, explore our Legal Research Toolkit — not free, but close.
Gmac Commercial Credit Llc, Gmac Commercial Finance LLC v. Dillard Department Stores, Inc., Dillard's, Inc.
Citations: 357 F.3d 827; 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 1830Docket: 03-2514, 03-2850
Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; February 6, 2004; Federal Appellate Court
GMAC Commercial Credit LLC initiated a breach of contract lawsuit against Dillard's, Inc. in the United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, based on federal diversity jurisdiction. GMAC, a New York limited liability company, faced a partial summary judgment and a jury verdict in favor of Dillard's, a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Arkansas. After losing, GMAC appealed, later moving to vacate the judgment and attorney fees, asserting that diversity of citizenship does not exist, thus questioning the federal court's subject matter jurisdiction. The court noted that jurisdictional issues can be raised at any time and confirmed that GMAC's citizenship as an LLC is determined by the citizenship of its members. Dillard's opposed GMAC's motion and sought attorney fees due to GMAC's delay in raising the jurisdictional issue. The court stated that the citizenship of an LLC affects diversity jurisdiction and remanded the case to the district court to assess both parties' citizenship and whether diversity jurisdiction is present. The document emphasizes that the citizenship determination for unincorporated entities, including LLCs, is distinct from that of corporations, which have defined citizenship based on incorporation and principal place of business. Numerous similarities exist between corporations and LLCs, but the determination of LLC citizenship for diversity jurisdiction purposes is a matter best left to Congress. Justice Scalia's analysis in Carden emphasizes that while accommodating diversity jurisdiction to modern commercial structures is important, such changes should be legislated rather than interpreted by courts. The precedent established holds that an LLC's citizenship aligns with that of its members unless Congress states otherwise. In this case, the court is unable to ascertain the citizenship of GMAC's members, necessitating a remand to the district court for discovery and a hearing to determine if any members are citizens of Arkansas or Delaware. Regarding attorney fees, Dillard's request for fees due to GMAC's late jurisdictional challenge is left for the district court to decide. Ultimately, the cases are remanded for jurisdictional discovery, a hearing, and a ruling on the attorney fees issue.