The Court of Appeals faced that rarest of truffles this week: an outcome-determinative choice of law question. The Court adhered to its traditional roots and rejected a new test fashioned by the Business Court.
At issue in Harco Nat’l Ins. Co. v. Grant Thornton, LLP was an audit of a company providing bail and immigration bonds in North Carolina and other states. The plaintiff, an insurance company, entered into an agreement with the bonding company on the basis of that audit. When the bonding company went defunct, the plaintiff ultimately became
Continue Reading Ct. App. Reverses Business Court on Audit Choice of Law Issue
The North Carolina Business Court ruled today on an issue of first impression — when a North Carolina Court should apply the law of a foreign country — and concluded that it would apply North Carolina law to a forum selection clause requiring the parties to litigate their dispute in the Commercial Court of Paris, under French law.
Wachovia was first to file its claims in North Carolina Superior Court, but the Business Court nevertheless stayed the action in favor of a later filed New York action.