Commercial courts: a twenty first century necessity?

• Author: Alvin Stauber
• Position: Professor of Business Law, College of Business, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America
• Pages: 154-177

Judicial Studies Institute Journal [2007:1

154

COMMERCIAL COURTS:

A TWENTY FIRST CENTURY NECESSITY?

ALVIN STAUBER∗

INTRODUCTION

In the last several years, the number of specialised courts in

the United States that handle cases involving commercial matters

has increased substantially. At present, twelve states—Florida,

Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey,

New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Rhode

Island—are operating commercial courts in either selected cities

or on a statewide basis.1 One of the most recent additions to the

commercial court line-up is the Orlando, Florida Business Court

(known officially as the Orange County Complex Commercial

Litigation Division), which commenced operations in January

2004.2 At the very same time that the Orlando Business Court

was established, Ireland’s Commercial Court likewise came into

being. Aside from their identical start date, these two courts have

a shared philosophy that a separate commercial court can achieve

worthy objectives such as creating judicial expertise in complex

commercial matters, fostering consistency in case management,

and expediting cases.3

The purpose of this article is to: (1) briefly describe the

history of commercial courts in the United States; and (2) review

and analyze the operation of the Business Court in Orlando,

Florida and the Commercial Court in Ireland.

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∗ Professor of Business Law, College of Business, Florida State University,

Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America.

1 Bach and Applebaum, “A History of the Creation and Jurisdiction of

Business Courts in the Last Decade,” 60 Business Lawyer 147 at 151 (2004).

2 Krueger, “Roche Takes Reins of First Business Court,” Orlando Business

Journal, 31 October 2003. The Fulton County [Atlanta] Business Court began

operations in December 2005 and appears to be the most recently established

Business Court. See also Land, “Georgia Justices Clear Way for Business

Court,” New Jersey Law Journal, 13 June 2005.

3 See “Address by Michael McDowell T.D., Minister for Justice, Equality &

Law Reform at the Commercial Court and Mediation Conference on 24 March

2004,” available at www.justice.ie.

2007] Commercial Courts 155

I. HISTORY OF COMMERCIAL COURTS

IN THE UNITED STATES

A. Benefits

The impetus for creating commercial courts in the United

States was a growing recognition that courts specializing in

business matters offered numerous benefits to both the legal and

business community. These benefits included the following:

1. Expertise. Courts that consistently deal with business,

corporate, and other commercial disputes develop expertise,

experience, and knowledge.

2. Efficiency. As Business Courts become more experienced

in handling commercial disputes, they will be able to perform

their judicial functions more rapidly and efficiently.

3. Resource Availability. The more efficient handling of

business cases frees judicial resources to handle other

pressing matters.

4. Stability. Business Courts provide consistency and

predictability to litigants and lawyers. Instead of having

numerous judges making unpredictable and inconsistent

rulings, one or two judges specializing in commercial cases

can bring stability to an otherwise uncertain environment.

5. Economic Development. New businesses can be recruited

to an area more easily if they know that a specialized Business

Court is in place to resolve disputes.4

B. Business Court Pioneers

Although not designated as a “business court,” the

Delaware Court of Chancery has, for decades, been, in essence, a

business court of the first order, currently handling approximately

500 business cases a year.5 As the late Chief Justice Rehnquist

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4 See generally Bach and Applebaum, “A History of The Creation and

Jurisdiction of Business Courts in the Last Decade”, supra note 1.

5 Veasey, “The Drama of Judicial Branch Change in this Century,” 17

Delaware Lawyer 4 at 5 (1999-2000).