Official Statement: Proposed West Virginia Business Court
Charleston, W.Va. – The West Virginia Association for Justice today announced its support for a specialized business court provided that such a court’s jurisdiction is properly limited to complex business disputes between sophisticated business entities.
“Corporate disputes comprise most of the civil litigation in this state and country. Those issues can be very complex. We believe that a comprehensive understanding of commercial and corporate litigation by a specialized business court, as suggested by our House Speaker Richard Thompson, could reassure businesses that these legal matters involving issues like anti-trust, creation and dissolution of business entities, and trade secrets can be handled efficiently by judges experienced in such areas of law. A business court could be an important asset to attract new businesses to the state,” said Michael J. Romano, president of the West Virginia Association for Justice.
“It is critical, however, that we do not unwittingly create a court that is a deterrent to working families wronged by big out-of-state businesses. A business court must be unequivocally limited to sophisticated corporate and commercial issues. It participants should be limited to those who are equal in financial resources and business sophistication.”
“A business court must not have jurisdiction to hear cases that involve consumers, employees, or small businesses for any reason. To permit our creation of a business court to somehow force less sophisticated parties, such as consumers, into courts far from where they live and at a much greater cost will simply create hurdle which will forever close the courthouse door for working families seeking justice. We must guard well the rights to a fair trial for working people as guaranteed by our Constitution, and not let our wish for great economic development blind us to the rights we are forfeiting.”
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