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?
5 Answers from Attorneys
Probably not.
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,
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,
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.
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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