Legal Question in Civil Litigation in North Carolina

Re: Foreign default judgment

You may need to consult a lawyer to look at the actual paperwork and to discuss the specifics of your case, but in general, North Carolina will recognize a Default Judgment from another state, including New York. There is an Act for docketing a Judgment in North Carolina. (In fact, under the Full Faith and Credit clause of the US Constitution, each state must recognize judgments from other states, with some exceptions.) The primary defense you can raise is whether that Default Judgment is valid, which would often depend on whether New York had "personal jurisdiction" over you, and whether you were properly served. There is generally a presumption in favor of the validity of a foreign judgment. As for the punitive aspect, I am aware of no rule of law that would treat that aspect of damages any differently from compensatory (or other) damages. So, if you have collectible assets, and especially if you may have a defense to the NY Judgment, you would really need a lawyer for this.