Strike the possibility of being haled into a far-flung jurisdiction from the list of reasons why attorneys should not promote their practices with adware. An odd decision from North Carolina held recently that attorneys who advertised their practices with adware were not subject to the court's jurisdiction merely because the advertisements were displayed on the computer screen of an irate North Carolina resident.
The plaintiff contended that the defendants hired "some Internet firm" to plant "a bug or virus or worm" on his computer, thus damaging the computer and invading his privacy. The plaintiff took down the names of the attorneys displayed on his computer, and he sued them.
None of the numerous attorney defendants admitted to marketing their services in such a crass fashion, but all of them declared that they were not licensed to practice law in North Carolina and they were not attempting to market their services there.
"It makes absolutely no sense that [the defendants], all of whom operate law or dental practices in states far removed from North Carolina, would have any interest in soliciting [the plaintiff], or any other North Carolina resident," the court said. The court held that jurisdiction over the attorneys was not proper under the state long-arm statute, because they were not soliciting or providing services in the state. Even if jurisdiction was proper under the long-arm, it added, the attorneys did not purposefully direct their activities toward North Carolina, so federal due process would not permit North Carolina courts to assert jurisdiction over them.
The case is Burgess v. Vitola, No. 07 CVS 4679 (N.C. Super.Ct., Buncombe Cty., Feb. 26, 2008)
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