Liskow Attorneys Kirk Jones and Kelly Scalise Secure Supreme Court Victory for Charitable Trusts

Liskow attorneys Kirk Jones and Kelly Scalise secured a victory for two charitable trusts in the United States Supreme Court. After argument at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment by the district court, removing a co-trustee and awarding over $10 million in damages to the foundations. The co-trustee then sought a writ of certiorari from the Supreme Court based on a jurisdictional issue of whether the citizenship of unnamed co-trustees should be considered for diversity of citizenship.  The Supreme Court denied the petition, leaving in place the Fifth Circuit’s determination that only the citizenship of the named co-trustee who was the party litigant is considered for diversity purposes.  As was argued by the two foundations, this decision is in accord with Supreme Court precedent regarding trusts as well as decisions of the Seventh and Tenth Circuits.