In General Technology Applications, Inc., the Fourth Circuit followed Carden v. Arkoma Assocs., 494 U.S. 185, 110 S. Ct. 1015, 108 L. Ed. 2d 157 (1990), by holding that all non-corporate artificial entities, such as limited liability companies, should not be treated the same as corporations despite how similar an entity might appear to a corporation; and therefore, for citizenship purposes an entity other than a corporation should be considered a citizen of its members as opposed to the state under whose laws it was created.
a manager-managed limited liability company looks and acts somewhat like a corporation, especially with regard to derivative actions and members’ claims, this argument misses the mark. A limited liability company organized under the laws of a state is not a corporation and cannot be treated as such under section 1332 until Congress says otherwise. [] It is an unincorporated association, akin to a partnership for diversity purposes, whose citizenship is that of its members.
Id.
(4th Cir. 2004)).