Federal Court Keeps Insurance Coverage Fight in Louisiana, Rejecting Diversity Challenge

NEW ORLEANS (LN) — U.S. District Judge Nanette Jolivette Brown denied Chamalé Cove Condominium Association, Inc.‘s motion to remand the case to state court, finding that Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London established complete diversity of citizenship between the parties.

The ruling keeps in federal court a coverage dispute that arose from thunderstorms that swept through Slidell, Louisiana, on April 10, 2024, causing damage to the Chamalé Cove Condominiums. The association filed suit in St. Tammany Parish state court on June 23, 2025, alleging the underwriters failed to indemnify the property under two Lloyd’s policies—one covering 85 percent of the risk and the other 15 percent.

The underwriters removed the case to the Eastern District of Louisiana on November 3, 2025, invoking diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The association countered that the removal was improper because the underwriters never established the citizenship of the individual Names that subscribed to the policies.

The association argued that the underwriters merely listed syndicate numbers without identifying the actual Names behind them, and that the citizenship of all Names must be considered since they are real parties in interest. The underwriters responded that each syndicate is owned by a single corporate entity, not multiple Names, and submitted Companies House records from the United Kingdom to establish those entities’ citizenship.

In a May 29 order, Brown applied Fifth Circuit precedent holding that UK private limited companies are treated as corporations for diversity purposes. The court reviewed certificates of incorporation for AEGIS Electric & Gas International Services Limited, Munich Re Specialty Group, Beazley PLC, White Bear Capital Limited, and Asta Capital Limited—all showing incorporation in the United Kingdom with principal places of business there.

The court also addressed Apollo Partners LLP, a limited liability partnership that is a member of APL Syndicate 1969. Citing Fifth Circuit law that the citizenship of a limited partnership is determined by the citizenship of its partners, Brown found that Apollo Partners’ members—Apollo Group Holdings Limited and Apollo Group Services Limited—are both UK private limited companies.

Because the association is a Louisiana citizen and all defendants are UK citizens, the court concluded that complete diversity exists and denied the remand motion.