Jurisdiction Question

[howdy198]

I developed a web site for someone and they are now stiffing me on the final payment (they haven't returned my calls in a over month). The problem is that I live in Canada and she lives in North Carolina. I believe she used to live in California before she got married and just forgot to update her contract template to reflect her new locale.

The contract specifies that "Each of the parties irrevocably consents to the exclusive personal jurisdiction of the federal and state courts located in California, as applicable, for any matter arising out of or relating to this Contractor Agreement, except that in actions seeking to enforce any order or any judgment of such federal or state courts located in California, such personal jurisdiction shall be nonexclusive."

My question is two fold:
1) Am I correct that I need to sue in California (This would be in small claims court, fyi)
2) According to courtinfo.ca.gov, I need to serve them in the state of California, which is not possible since she isn't/won't be there. Can I not serve them in NC? If not, how can I serve them?

Thanks,

John

 

[jharris352]

You would actually sue in North Carolina and both would have the option of using California laws if there was some benefit to it.

 

[howdy198]

The small claims limit is considerably lower in NC than CA. Would it be possible to use this element of California law there?

 

[jharris352]

Yes, that is the point. Since the contract states that the parties will operate under California law, though it does so indirectly in the wording, the NC Judge would use the California limits. Isn't that cool?