What does complete diversity require in federal diversity jurisdiction?

What does complete diversity require in federal diversity jurisdiction?

• A. Each plaintiff must be from a different state than every defendant
• B. All parties are diverse from at least one other party
• C. No federal questions involved
• D. Parties must be diverse from state governments only

Answer: (A)

Complete diversity means that every plaintiff must be from a different state than every defendant. If any single plaintiff shares a state of citizenship with any defendant, federal diversity jurisdiction does not exist. This rule ensures the federal forum isn’t drawn into a dispute where a party is connected to the same state as an opponent. Citizenship is determined differently depending on who the parties are: individuals by domicile, corporations by state of incorporation and principal place of business, and other entities by the states of their members or partners. Because of that, you must check all cross-state relationships across the entire set of plaintiffs and defendants to confirm complete diversity. The other ideas don’t fit because complete diversity isn’t satisfied by being diverse from at least one party, it isn’t about federal questions, and it isn’t limited to state governments—corporate and other non-individual parties matter too.

Complete diversity means that every plaintiff must be from a different state than every defendant. If any single plaintiff shares a state of citizenship with any defendant, federal diversity jurisdiction does not exist. This rule ensures the federal forum isn’t drawn into a dispute where a party is connected to the same state as an opponent.

Citizenship is determined differently depending on who the parties are: individuals by domicile, corporations by state of incorporation and principal place of business, and other entities by the states of their members or partners. Because of that, you must check all cross-state relationships across the entire set of plaintiffs and defendants to confirm complete diversity.

The other ideas don’t fit because complete diversity isn’t satisfied by being diverse from at least one party, it isn’t about federal questions, and it isn’t limited to state governments—corporate and other non-individual parties matter too.