Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Georgia

Can two individuals bring a single action in the United States district court against a business and aggregate the claim to meet the requiste amount to be within diversity jurisdiction of the United States district court?


Asked on 9/29/11, 6:25 am

5 Answers from Attorneys

Glen Ashman Ashman Law Office also dba Glen Ashman Attorney

Probably not.

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Answered on 9/29/11, 6:28 am
S. Carlton Rouse Rouse & Co., LLC

First and foremost, if you value your claim, you need to speak with an attorney so you can receive case specific advise. There is no reset button in court. If you fail due to a technical error an otherwise valid claim can be permanently lost. Furthermore, the procedure in federal court is more specific and complex than state court (yet another reason to hire able representation).

The question presented pertains to diversity jurisdiction pursuant to: 28 U.S.C. 1332(a), one of the two types of jurisdiction required for the federal court to hear a case. When a case is filed pursuant to diversity jurisdiction, the plaintiff must show that the lawsuit is between citizens of different states (you just need one instance of diversity between the parties to satisfy this standard) and the plaintiff(s) seeks in damages in excess of $75,000.

You should have no problem satisfying this standard by aggregating the amount between two plaintiffs. Hope this helps.

Regards,

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Answered on 9/29/11, 6:43 am
S. Carlton Rouse Rouse & Co., LLC

First and foremost, if you value your claim, you need to speak with an attorney so you can receive case specific advice. There is no reset button in court. If you fail due to a technical error an otherwise valid claim can be permanently lost. Furthermore, the procedure in federal court is more specific and complex than state court (yet another reason to hire able representation).

The question presented pertains to diversity jurisdiction pursuant to: 28 U.S.C. 1332(a), one of the two types of jurisdiction required for the federal court to hear a case. When a case is filed pursuant to diversity jurisdiction, the plaintiff must show that the lawsuit is between citizens of different states (you just need one instance of diversity between the parties to satisfy this standard) and the plaintiff(s) seeks in damages in excess of $75,000.

You should have no problem satisfying this standard by aggregating the amount between two plaintiffs. Hope this helps.

Regards,

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Answered on 9/29/11, 6:44 am
Scott Riddle Law Office of Scott B. Riddle, LLC

You will have a lot of trouble if the claims are unrelated. That is a key question a lawyer will ask you (obviously in addition to the merits of the claims). You will need a lawyer who practices in federal court, and who preferably specializes in the area of law. Parties in court (especially federal court) who do not have lawyers have one thing in common - they lose, and usually lose quickly.

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Answered on 9/29/11, 7:00 am
Cyrus Malekabadi Law Offices of Cyrus K. Malekabadi

Go ahead and file the lawsuit without an attorney.

Don't come crying back here when it is dismissed and you need an attorney to appeal.

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Answered on 9/29/11, 10:04 am


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