Seeing as how the ACC was incorporated in the State of NC, and, is bound by NC corporate law, isn't it only natural that the case be adjudicated in NC?
FYI, the ACC isn't incorporated, and what's "natural" doesn't have much to do with it in the absence of a forum selection clause. If Maryland is wronged in Maryland, it can pursue remedies for those wrongs in Maryland courts against defendants, as long as those defendants are subject to the jurisdiction of Maryland courts (and the ACC is). Here, the ACC filed in N.C. first.