Miller v. LG Chem, Ltd.

NCAJ filed an amicus brief in the North Carolina Court of Appeals advocating for creating a qualified right to jurisdictional discovery once a prima facie case of jurisdiction has been shown. NCAJ argued that the trial court erred by denying Plaintiff’s counsel and opportunity to conduct jurisdictional discovery to contest the Defendants’ contention it was not subject jurisdiction in North Carolina. The trial court did not rule on Plaintiff’s motion to overrule Defendants’ objections to his jurisdictional-based discovery. Instead, in reaching its conclusion, the trial court relied on a 30(b)(6) deposition of the Defendants from another matter and an affidavit of Plaintiff’s counsel.

NCAJ argued that had Defendants not obstructed discovery, Plaintiff would have contested Defendants’ contentions. NCAJ argued that if other courts adopted the same analytical framework used by the trial court, North Carolinians’ access to justice would be severely hampered. Without meaningful jurisdictional discovery, North Carolinians will be unable to dispute a foreign corporation’s contention that it is not subject to jurisdiction in North Carolina even when it makes a profit from selling its product in this state.