A new set of statewide business courts will begin to accept case filings this September. This summer, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed two judges to the Fort Worth court: Jerry Bullard, of Colleyville, and Brian Stagner, of Fort Worth. Both are business attorneys with decades of litigation experience.
Development of these new courts began last year with the signing of House Bill 19 that amended government code. It creates a different system of trial and appellate courts for complex business disputes.
And for the first time in Texas, the bill gives the governor the power to appoint judges in the state, rather than citizens electing them. Opponents say the law runs counter to the state constitution. Judges in Texas are elected, but the governor may fill vacancies between elections.
Carliss Chatman, an associate professor of law at SMU Dedman School of Law, says the new business courts will relieve the civil dockets.
“Some of these cases can be up in the billions (of dollars). Discovery can take months, if not years. There are a lot of motions back and forth,” said Chatman, who teaches business and commercial law. “I think this will just make things better for all judges to get these long, huge cases off their docket.”
The courtrooms for the new Eighth Business Court Division in Fort Worth will be housed in downtown Fort Worth in the same building as the Texas A&M School of Law, according to a law school spokesperson. Bullard and Stagner will begin their two-year terms in the Fort Worth division Sept. 1.
Bullard, who has three decades of experience in state and federal litigation in both trial and appellate law, is a shareholder and attorney with Adams, Lynch and Loftin, P.C. in Grapevine. He is gubernatorial appointee on the Texas Juvenile Justice Department Board and a member of the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee. He received his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.
Stagner, a former partner at Kelly, Hart and Hallman and an adjunct professor in business law at Texas Christian University, has over two decades of experience in state and federal complex business litigation. He has experience with consumer class action, corporate governance, unfair business practices, and other areas. He has represented major business clients in manufacturing and technology, obtaining multi-million dollar verdicts, and he was co-counsel on a trademark case that won around $56 million. He received his law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law.
The creation of these courts came with opposition, and will likely face legal challenges. Texas Trial Lawyers Association was one of the groups that testified against the bill that became law.
Quentin Brogdon, a past president of the group, says the new courts go counter to the Texas Constitution, which he says requires district judges to be voted on within judicial districts.
“This is the foothold in the side of the cliff. All of our judges (in Texas), including our highest level judges are elected,” said Brogdon, a partner with the Dallas personal injury firm, Crain Brogdon.
Brogdon worries that it opens the door for appointing judges. “You start as a pilot, and then you expand it,” he said.
Five business court divisions will begin this September, in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Houston. The Fort Worth division is composed of the counties of Archer, Clay, Cooke, Denton, Eastland, Erath, Hood, Jack, Johnson, Montague, Palo Pinto, Parker, Somervell, Stephens, Tarrant, Wichita, Wise, and Young.
Shomial Ahmad is a higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report, in partnership with Open Campus. Contact her at shomial.ahmad@fortworthreport.org.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.