Walker v. Norwest Corp.

108 F.3d 158 (8th Cir. 1996)

Facts

Walker (P), his guardian and attorney filed a complaint in district court alleging a breach of fiduciary duty and other state law causes of action against Norwest (D) and others. The complaint stated that there was diversity in that the Plaintiff and some of the Defendants are citizens of different states. The complaint alleged that P was a citizen of South Dakota and that D was a corporate citizen of Minnesota, but it did not allege the citizenship of the other remaining defendants. Upon receipt of the complaint, D wrote to P informing P of the obvious defect on the face of the complaint. D asked P to dismiss the complaint, or it would ask for sanctions. P acknowledged receipt, and after failing to act, D moved to dismiss and for sanctions. The court granted a 12(b)(1) motion and sanctioned attorney Massey under Rule 11 for $4,800. Ps appealed.