Business court sees full docket as demand soars - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

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The number of cases that appeared before the courrt more than doubled between 2000and 2003, going from 82 to 179, accordingh to a study requested by the stat in 2004. While the total number of cases in fronyt of the court was not available for morerecent years, the number of new cases filed has continued to Business Court data indicates in 2004, 21 such caseas were added to the docket, followesd by another 28 in 2005 and 103 more in 2006. As of Marchj 21, 27 such cases already have been filed so far this the most readilyavailabled data.
Even though more recent numberse arenot available, Judge Ben the chief special superiodr court judge for complex business cases, said he is certainb the number of casess filed in the business court has continuedf to grow. "The caseload was building up so that it was difficult for me to handle everything onmy own" before the new judge were added, said Tennille, who said his workload is as heav as it was a year ago, even with the extra Cases can be sent to the courtt in two ways. Historically, the parties involvec in what they feel wasa "complec business case" could request the case be move from county superior court into the specialized cour t system.
Under legislative changes approvedsin 2005, some cases -- such as those involving antitrusgt or intellectual property issues -- are now automatically referred to the businesss court. While the court has locations inthe state'se three largest metropolitan areas, judges frequently travel to othert parts of the state to oversed trials, especially jury trials. Tennille and local attorney say that despite the increasde in the number of cases beinv heard by thebusineszs court, they don't think the overal l amount of business litigation in the state has risen dramatically.
they say, attorneys are more frequentl filing cases on a state rather than a federapl level to speed up thejudiciaol process. They also are becoming more comfortabl e asking for those cases to be heard by the business couryt as they become more familiarwith it. One of the biggest reasons for a boostin N.C. Businessz Court cases in recent years may be the hesitancyy of some attorneys to file cases infederal court. While some typesz of litigation must be either federal or state in many instances the parties involved can decide undee what jurisdiction they want to The U.S.
Middle Districf of North Carolina has two vacangt judgeships out of four seats inthe district, and ther e are four open federal judgeships statewide, according to the Departmen of Justice. The vacancies have increasec the workload of the sitting judges and lengthened the time it takexs for a case tobe heard. Since criminap cases are given priority overcivilo cases, attorneys say it can be two or three yearse before a business case actually is However, even with the growthn in the number of cases, attorneys say a case generally can be resolveds in the N.C. Business Court in about a year.
Since delays often mean more cost, and uncertainty, for the partiese involved, attorneys say they are findingf it makes more and more sensee to file inthe N.C. Business Court insteaed of federallywhen possible. "Clientsa want not to be tied upin courts," said Erik a litigation attorney with Smith Moore in Greensboro. "They don't want to be bogged down in the court system and spending money on trials and They want to be able to devote those resourceas totheir businesses.
" While attorneys say it's too earluy to tell if the additional judges are having a significan impact on the time it takes to have a case the expectation is the two additional judgez will help alleviate any potentialk slowdowns at least for a few even as the number of cases continues to grow. Another reason for the increase in businesscourt cases, lawyers say, is that members of the bar are becomingt more comfortable with the business When the N.C. Busines s Court opened in 1996 it was one of the firstt inthe nation, and many attorneys were hesitant for theirt clients to be the guinea pigs in the new system.
But over more attorneys have found they enjoy the advantagesa of a case being heard inbusiness court, from knowin one judge will hear the case from start to finisg (regular Superior Court judges are rotated, so a handful of judgee may be involved in one to working with a judge who specializes in businessx law. One of the big advantages to the N.C. Businessa Court is the increasing predictabilith that comes with a decade of decisions and growinfcase law, said Bob a partner in the commercial litigatiohn practice at Kilpatrick Stockton in Winston-Salem. Judges in the business courtf are required to write an opinion on evertnonjury decision.
Elster said that means attorneys can see how a judgw has ruled in similar casesx to know the likelihood of a verdict being rendered in their favodr or to better establish their which can help ease a lot of the uncertainty about takingh a matterto court.