Victory for Client Archangel Diamond Corp. in Colorado Supreme Court
What the Case Involved:
Our client, Archangel Diamond Corp., a Canadian company headquartered in Colorado, filed suit against Lukoil in Colorado seeking over $1 billion of damages for the defendant’s improper interference with Archangel’s contracts with a Lukoil subsidiary relating to the development of valuable diamond fields in Russia. The lower court found that it lacked personal jurisdiction over Lukoil and dismissed the case.
Result:
The Colorado Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision in favor of Archangel stating the plaintiff had shown that defendant Lukoil “had a continuous and systematic business presence in Colorado [which] ma(de) it reasonable for it to defend Archangel’s claims here.”
The Court determined that “based on Archangel’s evidence that Lukoil essentially admitted to owning the Glendale gas station [based on Lukoil’s website], as well as the evidence showing Lukoil’s logo posted on the gas station, (it) conclude(d) that Archangel established a prima facie showing of general jurisdiction over Lukoil. The case has been remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.
