Legal Question in Business Law in New Hampshire

Re: Contract

This is a question of jurisdiction. The New Hampshire Courts would not have jurisdiction over the defendant/homeowner since she is neither a resident of the state, nor was the contract entered into in New Hampshire. The courts in Coloriado are the proper route.

Re: Contract

There are really two answers here. The first, under classical principles of personal jurisdiction and "choice of laws" analysis, points to a likely result of the action being successfully opposed by a procedural motion in NH based either on the lack of personal jurisdiction or "forum non conviviens" (inconvenient forum). The second is a more practical approach of what the defendant is most likely to do if actually sued: would she spend a bunch of money on legal fees to get an action in NH dismissed, only to have it re-filed in CO? Remember, the NH court isn't going to just dismiss the action on its own; it takes the defendant's hiring a lawyer and filing the requisite motion to dismiss.

Having said all of the above, I would suggest filing the action in CO anyway, as you would have to get a NH judgment enforced in CO and could run into the same jurisdictional argument at that point (particularly if the defendant allowed a default judgment to enter in NH and did not participate at all in the action there), which would likely mean that all of your legal fees incurred in obtaining the NH judgment would be wasted and you would have to start all over again in CO court. I can recommend a good firm in Denver, and if it is not local there they can refer you to someone out in the hinterland....

Best wishes,

LDWG

Re: Contract

In order to respond properly to the question it will be necessary to review the contract documents. They may have a "choice of law" provision which would control where the suit has to be filed. Also, is this a personal contract or a corporate type contractor. That will have impact on the answer.

I suggest that hiring an attorney to review the details would be your best choice.