Federal Procedure – Jurisdiction – Statutory Change in Jurisdictional Amount and Corporate Citizenship

A recent congressional amendment of federal district court jurisdictional requirements for both diversity of citizenship and federal question litigation has raised the required amount in controversy from $3,000 to $10,000. The trial court has also been given discretion either to deny costs or assess them against the plaintiff if he is finally adjudged entitled to recover less than $10,000, determined without regard to any set-off or counterclaim and exclusive of interest and costs. Further, for purposes of diversity jurisdiction and removal, a corporation is now deemed a citizen “of any State by which it has been incorporated and of the State where it has its principal place of business.” 28 U.S.C. (Supp. V, 1958) §§1331, 1332.