Almost Everything, But Not Quite: What’s a General Appearance Again?

This blog post considers yet another aspect of personal jurisdiction, or the authority of a court over the parties before it. One of the elements of personal jurisdiction is effective service of process—the service of the documents initiating a civil lawsuit. Objections to a court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction because of a defect in service of process are extremely common, as are other defenses challenging personal jurisdiction. A party can waive these defenses, however, by making what is termed a general appearance in the matter. A recent case in the North Carolina Court of Appeals, Blaylock v. AKG North America, affirmed the dismissal of a civil lawsuit because of a failure to achieve service of process. In doing so, it answered a question of first impression regarding general appearances and personal jurisdiction—specifically, whether notice of removal of a case to federal court qualifies as a general appearance.