Opinion
No. COA09-888.
Filed February 2, 2010.
Iredell County No. 08CVS3684.
Appeal by defendant from order entered 4 May 2009 by Judge Kevin M. Bridges in Iredell County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 1 December 2009.
Pope, McMillan, Kutteh, Privette, Edwards Schieck, P.A., by Martha N. Peed and Anthony S. Privette, for plaintiff-appellee. Patrick, Harper Dixon, L.L.P., by Stephen M. Thomas, for defendant-appellant.
Independence Plating Corporation ("defendant") appeals an order denying its motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. We affirm.
The facts in the instant case are undisputed. Defendant is a New Jersey corporation that provides anodizing services. Defendant's only office and all of its personnel are located in the state of New Jersey. Defendant does not advertise or otherwise solicit business in North Carolina. Prior to July 2007, defendant had engaged in a long-standing business relationship with Kidde Aerospace ("Kidde"), a North Carolina company.
In July 2007, on the recommendation of Kidde, Southern Prestige Industries, Inc. ("plaintiff"), a North Carolina corporation, contacted defendant to establish a business relationship. Under the terms of the arrangement between plaintiff and defendant, plaintiff would ship specified machined parts from its location in Statesville, North Carolina to defendant's location in New Jersey for anodizing. After the parts were anodized by defendant, they were shipped back to plaintiff, unless plaintiff otherwise directed. Plaintiff would then send the parts to the end user, Kidde.
Plaintiff and defendant engaged in frequent transactions between 27 July 2007 and 25 April 2008. In all, the record reveals thirty-two purchase orders and invoices totaling $21,018.70. All invoices were sent from defendant in New Jersey to plaintiff in North Carolina and were paid by checks issued from plaintiff's corporate account at Piedmont Bank in Statesville, North Carolina.
On 18 November 2008, plaintiff initiated an action for breach of contract in Iredell County Superior Court. Plaintiff alleged that defects caused by defendant's anodizing process caused plaintiff's machined parts to be rejected by Kidde. On 6 February 2009, defendant filed, with a supporting affidavit, a motion to dismiss pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 12(b)(2) (2007) for lack of personal jurisdiction. On 18 March 2009, plaintiff filed an affidavit, with supporting exhibits, challenging the assertions in defendant's motion to dismiss. On 4 May 2009, after reviewing the evidence submitted by the parties, the trial court entered an order denying defendant's motion to dismiss. Defendant appeals.
Defendant's only argument on appeal is that the trial court erred in denying its motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Specifically, defendant argues there are insufficient contacts to satisfy the due process of law requirements that are necessary to subject defendant to the personal jurisdiction of North Carolina's courts. We disagree.
As an initial matter, we note that the denial of a motion to dismiss is generally deemed interlocutory and therefore not subject to immediate appeal. However, "[t]he denial of a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction is immediately appealable." Bruggeman v. Meditrust Acquisition Co., 138 N.C. App. 612, 614, 532 S.E.2d 215, 217 (2000) (citing N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-277(b)).
Neither party contests the findings of fact contained in the trial court's order. "Where no exception is taken to a finding of fact by the trial court, the finding is presumed to be supported by competent evidence and is binding on appeal." National Util. Review, LLC v. Care Ctrs., Inc., ___ N.C. App. ___, ___, 683 S.E.2d 460, 463 (2009) (internal quotation and citation omitted).
Therefore, the only issue to be determined is "whether the trial court's findings of fact support its conclusion of law that the court has personal jurisdiction over defendant. We conduct our review of this issue de novo." Id. (internal quotations and citations omitted).
North Carolina courts utilize a two-prong analysis in determining whether personal jurisdiction against a non-resident is properly asserted. Under the first prong of the analysis, we determine if statutory authority for jurisdiction exists under our long-arm statute. If statutory authority exists, we consider under the second prong whether exercise of our jurisdiction comports with standards of due process.
Baker v. Lanier Marine Liquidators, Inc., 187 N.C. App. 711, 714, 654 S.E.2d 41, 44 (2007) (internal citations omitted).
Defendant has conceded that the facts are sufficient to confer jurisdiction under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-75.4 (2007), the North Carolina long-arm statute. Therefore, "the inquiry becomes whether plaintiffs' assertion of jurisdiction over defendants complies with due process." Baker, 187 N.C. App. at 715, 654 S.E.2d at 44 (internal quotation and citation omitted).
In order to satisfy due process requirements, there must be "certain minimum contacts [between the non-resident defendant and the forum state] such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend `traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.'" International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 90 L. Ed. 95, 102 (1945)( quoting Milliken v. Meyer, 311 U.S. 457, 463, 85 L. Ed. 278, 283 (1940)). In order to establish minimum contacts with North Carolina,
the defendant must have purposefully availed itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum state and invoked the benefits and protections of the laws of North Carolina. The relationship between the defendant and the forum state must be such that the defendant should reasonably anticipate being haled into a North Carolina court.
Baker, 187 N.C. App. at 715, 654 S.E.2d at 45 (citation omitted).
The United States Supreme Court has recognized two bases for finding sufficient minimum contacts: (1) specific jurisdiction and (2) general jurisdiction. Specific jurisdiction exists when the controversy arises out of the defendant's contacts with the forum state. General jurisdiction may be asserted over a defendant even if the cause of action is unrelated to defendant's activities in the forum as long as there are sufficient `continuous and systematic' contacts between defendant and the forum state.
Banc of Am. Secs. LLC v. Evergreen Int'l Aviation, Inc., 169 N.C. App. 690, 696, 611 S.E.2d 179, 184 (2005) (internal quotations and citations omitted). In the instant case, the record does not support a finding of general jurisdiction and so it must be determined whether specific jurisdiction exists.
For specific jurisdiction, the relationship among the defendant, the forum state, and the cause of action is the essential foundation for the exercise of in personam jurisdiction. Our courts look at the following factors in determining whether minimum contacts exist: (1) the quantity of the contacts, (2) the nature and quality of the contacts, (3) the source and connection of the cause of action to the contacts, (4) the interest of the forum state, and (5) the convenience to the parties.
Id. (internal quotation and citations omitted).
In the instant case, the trial court found that the parties "had an ongoing business relationship characterized by frequent transactions between July 27, 2007 and April 25, 2008, as reflected by 32 purchase orders." Plaintiff would ship machined parts to defendant, who would then anodize the parts and return them to plaintiff in North Carolina. Defendant sent invoices totaling $21,018.70 to plaintiff in North Carolina, and these invoices were paid from plaintiff's corporate account at a North Carolina bank. Plaintiff filed a breach of contract action against defendant because the machined parts that were shipped to defendant from North Carolina and then anodized by defendant and shipped back to North Carolina were defective.
"It is generally conceded that a state has a manifest interest in providing its residents with a convenient forum for redressing injuries inflicted by out-of-state actors. Thus, North Carolina has a `manifest interest' in providing the plaintiff `a convenient forum for redressing injuries inflicted by' defendant, an out-of-state merchant." Baker, 187 N.C. App. at 716, 654 S.E.2d at 45 (internal quotations and citation omitted). As for the remaining factor, there is no evidence in the record that would indicate that it is more convenient for the parties to litigate this matter in a different forum. "Litigation on interstate business transactions inevitably involves inconvenience to one of the parties. When [t]he inconvenience to defendant of litigating in North Carolina is no greater than would be the inconvenience of plaintiff of litigating in [defendant's state] . . . no convenience factors . . . are determinative[.]" Cherry Bekaert Holland v. Brown, 99 N.C. App. 626, 635, 394 S.E.2d 651, 657 (1990) (internal quotations and citations omitted).
Therefore, after examining the ongoing relationship between the parties, the nature of their contacts, the interest of the forum state, the convenience of the parties, and the cause of action, we conclude defendant has "purposely availed" itself of the benefits of doing business in North Carolina and "should reasonably anticipate being haled" into a North Carolina court. We hold that defendant has sufficient minimum contacts with North Carolina to justify the exercise of personal jurisdiction over defendant without violating the due process clause.
Affirmed.
Judges WYNN and BEASLEY concur.
Report per Rule 30(e).