In a major blow to [Blackwater]...a federal appeals court has ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit filed against [it] can proceed in North Carolina's state courts. The suit was brought by the families of the four Blackwater contractors ambushed and killed in Falluja, Iraq on March 31, 2004. Blackwater had tried to have the same case dismissed or moved to federal court...The lawsuit, filed in January 2005, alleges that Blackwater cut corners in the interest of profits, leading to the brutal deaths of the four men...Blackwater spokesperson Chris Taylor told the Associated Press, "We are reviewing the decision."