MBE Rules · Civil Procedure
Diversity — complete diversity
28 U.S.C. §1332
The rule
Diversity jurisdiction requires complete diversity: no plaintiff may share a state of citizenship with any defendant. Citizenship is determined at filing. Corporations are citizens of state of incorporation AND principal place of business (nerve center, Hertz).
In plain English
For a federal court to hear a case based on diversity, all plaintiffs must be from different states than all defendants. Companies are considered citizens of where they're incorporated and where they mainly operate.
Worked example
Alice, from Texas, sues Bob, from Florida, and XYZ Corp., incorporated in Delaware with its main office in Texas. There's no complete diversity because Alice and XYZ Corp. share Texas as a state of citizenship.
Memory hook
Complete Diversity: No Mix, No Match. Plaintiffs and defendants can't share states, like oil and water—separate from start to filing.
The trap
Students think: Any diversity is enough. Wrong, because even one overlap kills it. The actual test is no plaintiff shares a state with any defendant.
How examiners test it
The MBE loves: corporation has locations in multiple states. Trap: students overlook principal place of business. Key: check both state of incorporation and nerve center.
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