As a still-young judicial panel, the Business Court frequently has an opportunity to define its boundaries in the face of challenges to its jurisdictional reach. In Inhold, LLC v. PureShield, Inc., 2021 NCBC 2, the Court considered a trade secret misappropriation fact pattern common to its docket: alleged informational theft and skullduggery among industry
Discovery Holes Can be Escaped, but First: Stop Digging
Discovery in a complex commercial case can feature its fair share of mayhem, particularly where it includes a large document production. Yet, where parties plan and execute information exchanges with reasonable diligence, the Business Court typically affords considerable latitude. That’s consistent with the ethic of the Court’s discovery rules – “designed for the parties to
Governor Cooper Nominates Four to Business Court Bench
Yesterday’s press release from the Governor’s Office with information on the nominees is available here:
https://governor.nc.gov/news/governor-cooper-nominates-four-special-superior-court-judges
Straight from the Source – Comments from the Business Court Judges
At the NCBA’s annual Antitrust and Complex Business Disputes Section CLE last week, there was a panel segment of the North Carolina Business Court Judges. Fox Rothschild was there, and here is our recap of what we heard and learned. As always, we strive to be accurate reporters, but this is not a verbatim recitation
When it comes to PJ, KYC (Know Your Contractor) – or at least where they are headquartered.
Contract with “substantial connection” with NC leads to PJ over a California Defendant who never visited NC.
In Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions, Inc. v. Smart & Final Stores LLC, 2020 NCBC 95, Judge Conrad held that a California-based company that reached into NC to contract with a NC business was subject to personal jurisdiction.
A Discovery Tale as Old as Time: Seek What You Really Want, or You May Never Find It
Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true.
– drawn from The Old Man and Death, Aesop
In Brewer v. Grue, 2020 NCBC 59, Judge Conrad offers a helpful update to convert that traditional morality tale to the rough and tumble world of commercial litigation. With apologies to Aesop, and the
In a Fight Over Corporate Inspection Rights, a Quick Kick Beats the Trick Play
A group of mostly powerless Class B members in a utility services firm suspected its only Class A member of self-dealing, but their suspicions did not mate with corporate authority to do much about it. However, blessed with wide-ranging inspection and audit rights under an operating agreement, they pushed forward with requests to determine the
When Judging Investment Options by the Numbers, Second Follows First, and Nothing Else
Business Court Confirms a Right
To Invest in a “Second” Project
Extends No Further
At Fifth and Church streets in uptown Charlotte, a group of investors opened the aptly named restaurant, 5Church. Other locations and restaurant brands followed, the fifth of which – Sophia’s Lounge – landed next door to the original location in an
Cross-Border Litigations Over Control of an LLC with an Unusual Twist: the Same Law Firm on Both Sides of the Battle
It’s not often that the rote listing of involved attorneys at the outset of a Business Court opinion gives much of a clue of what issues lie ahead. A curious exception is when the same party is listed as represented by counsel on both sides of the case. In Turner v. Hunt Hill Apartments, LLC
Hello? Is it fees you’re looking for?
With Court “ordered” corporate record inspections, who pays for the fees? More often than not, shareholders have to pay their own attorneys’ fees.
In Bauk v. Piedmont Cheerwine Bottling Company, 18 CVS 358, Order and Opinion on Petitioners’ Requests for Costs and Fees and to Modify Protective Order, 2020 NCBC 6, Judge Conrad denied