Drue Moore was co-founder of a company at the center of today’s high-finance college coaching carousel. Defendant Winthrop Intelligence, LLC used public records to aggregate university data, including coaching salaries, and sold access to its database to those interested in monitoring the money that drives the college sports industrial complex. Along the way, Moore – a North Carolina resident – sought asset protection advice from a Wyoming attorney, Scott Robinson, that included establishing Wyoming entities that took advantage of that state’s laws. In Moore v. Brooks, 2025 NCBC 69, the Business Court weighed a jurisdiction challenge lodged by Robinson and his related companies to being sued in North Carolina.

The lawsuit arose from a tangled fact pattern, which includes allegations that Moore embezzled more than $5 million from Winthrop, the company’s efforts to secure a settlement with Moore, and his subsequent death by suicide. Id. ¶¶ 13, 17, 65. His widow Kelly Moore, the estate’s executor, brought a variety of claims that included a declaratory judgment effort to settle the ownership issues surrounding the Moore’s home in Durham County.

The attempt to hail Robinson into a North Carolina court raised nuanced issues about his legal and business work for Moore and Winthrop, as well as his contacts with North Carolina. In addition to assisting Moore in creating at least four Wyoming entities to protect his assets, Robinson also became involved in Winthrop, becoming its manager. While Robinson didn’t travel to North Carolina or perform work here, he did sign and submit the company’s annual reports to the North Carolina Secretary of State. He also received property tax notices for the Durham residence (which had been deeded to one of the Wyoming entities) and life insurance premium bills, each of which he directed to Drue Moore for payment. Id. ¶¶ 7-8, 12.

The Business Court found that the attorney-client relationship between Drue Moore and Robinson was insufficient to establish personal jurisdiction. Judge Houston observed that Robinson didn’t market his services here, solicit Drue Moore’s business, or “perform[] material services for Drue in this state.” While the Court noted that Robinson and his law firm “undisputedly provided services” to a North Carolina resident, actions catering to Moore’s interest “in availing himself of the benefits of Wyoming’s laws” were not of the character for which Robinson should have foreseen the risk of being sued here. Id. ¶¶ 36-38. The Court distinguished Robinson’s contacts with North Carolina as not for the “purpose that [his] services generate a substantial effect in North Carolina[.]” Id. ¶ 41.

Wyoming

The court explained that (Id. ¶ 43):

“Providing services for, and directing conduct at a resident of a forum state – without more arising from that residency or materially relating to the forum – does not necessarily warrant a finding of personal jurisdiction where there is no indication that the defendant purposefully availed itself of the benefits of the forum state.”

The Court noted that it had previously held North Carolina has not “adopt[ed] a bright-line rule that an out of state firm’s provision of legal services to a North Carolina client in connection with a North Carolina transaction will always support the exercise of personal jurisdiction.” Id. ¶ 44 (quoting Diamond Candles v. Winter, 2020 WL 1229727, at *7 (N.C. Super Ct. Mar. 12, 2020)). Rather, the Business Court adopts the view there is “a clear distinction between aiming services at a North Carolina resident and contacts with the North Carolina forum itself.” Id. ¶ 37 (quoting Diamond Candles, at *8).

Worth Noting

  •  The Court declined to attribute Winthrop’s contacts with North Carolina to Robinson or his related entities through his service as its manager. “Courts may not exercise personal jurisdiction over an officer, director, or agent of a company simply because the company is subject to their jurisdiction.” Id. ¶ 45 (quoting Schaeffer v. SingleCare Holdings, LLC, 384 N.C. 102, 116 (2023)).

Brad Risinger is a partner in the Raleigh office of Fox Rothschild LLP.