Defendant's Attorney:

Description: Salt Lake City, Utah person injury lawyer represented the Plaintiff on a negligence theory.

The party asserting jurisdiction bears the burden of proving it by a preponderance of the evidence. Id. “Congress has authorized the federal district courts to exercise jurisdiction over certain cases between citizens of different states.” Middleton v. Stephenson, 749 F.3d 1197, 1200 (10th Cir. 2014); 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1). A person is a citizen of a state if they are “domiciled” in that state. Middleton, 749 F.3d at 1200. “[A] person acquires domicile in a state when the erson resides there and intends to remain there indefinitely.” Id.

Here, the district court dismissed Ms. Jacobs’s claim because she failed to allege her domicile despite being given multiple opportunities to do so. I R. 60–62. 1 The district court observed that, to establish diversity, Ms. Jacobs must show that she is not domiciled in Utah. Id. at 61. The magistrate judge repeatedly instructed Ms. Jacobs on how to properly allege her domicile, permitted her to amend her complaint, issued an order specifically directing her to allege her domicile, and set a hearing to that effect. Id. at 56. But at every turn, Ms. Jacobs alleged only that she resides in Nebraska, and she refused to allege that she intended to remain there indefinitely. Id. at 60–62. Moreover, she failed to appear at the hearing, instead filing a motion to disqualify the magistrate judge. Id. at 39, 53.

Outcome: Affirmed

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