GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina judge declined to dismiss a lawsuit filed against Maryland by the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Guilford County Superior Court Judge John O. Craig III on Monday denied the motion Maryland filed last month.

The school is leaving the ACC for the Big Ten. The ACC sued the school in November to make it pay its $52 million exit fee. Maryland sued the ACC last month in a Maryland court, calling the fee invalid.

Maryland lawyer Alex Barrett argued a North Carolina court has no jurisdiction over Maryland and because the school is an arm of the state, it enjoys sovereign immunity that protects it from lawsuits.

ACC attorney Alan Duncan countered that in North Carolina, sovereign immunity doesn’t exist in contractual claims.

Both Barrett and Duncan declined comment.

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