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The Federal Courts have often been a forum of choice for complex business litigation historically, with business bemoaning that the Federal Court jurisdictional requirements exclude many kinds of cases.
In January 2004, Orange County established a specialized subdivision known as “Business Court” to establish a forum for resolution of complex business disputes. Following a Federal Court model, specialized rules and rigorous case management were put in place, and more reliance was placed on written submittals. Since its inception, 3,604 cases have been assigned to Orange County’s Business Court. There are two other business courts in Florida – Miami-Dade and Hillsborough County.
The Business Court option is determined on a case-by-case basis. Early in a Business Court case, the judge holds a case management conference in which attorneys and clients both participate. A case management order is then generated that, like the one in Federal Court, tells everyone far in advance when their trial will take place. There are limits on depositions and other discovery similar to those in the Federal Courts, and reliance on written submittals is often used to weed out legally non-meritorious claims and defenses.
Advantages of the Business Court over its State Court alternative are illustrated by some of my recent class action trial experiences. A few years ago, I participated in a class action bench trial in Broward County in which the decision was affirmed on appeal by the Florida Supreme Court in 2008. In February 2009, I won a class action bench trial in Orange County Business Court. While the actual trials were not very different, the Business Court case proceeded in a much more streamlined fashion because of the rules and case management that were put in place. Pretrial activities in both cases included motions and extensive discovery, including fact witness depositions, expert reports and expert depositions. The Business Court entered a series of Case Management Orders tailored to our particular case that entirely barred certain topics from being the subject of discovery. The Business Court trial started exactly when the Case Management Orders directed. In contrast, the Broward County class action had little case management, which led to unnecessary discovery and our having to show up for trial twice. Although both cases resulted in defense judgment outcomes, the clients and witnesses were far less inconvenienced in the Business Court case.
Another example of Business Court case management involved four class actions concerning a public merger transaction that my partner and I defended in 2010. Once all four cases were transferred to the Business Court, they were consolidated. An early hearing was held on whether the consolidated case in Florida should proceed or, alternatively, whether mirror image lawsuits in Nevada should. The Business Court judge quickly ruled that the earlier filed Nevada cases would proceed. Three months into the cases, the Florida class actions were stayed.
After seven years, it is clear that the Orange County Business Court is a success story. The fact that Business Court forum is available might actually make Orange County a more attractive place to do business, removing some of the legal uncertainties of complex litigation.
