Lee Parsley, president of Texans for Lawsuit Reform
AUSTIN – The president of Texans for Lawsuit Reform is urging the state’s Senate to follow the house and pass House Bill 40, a bill offering further enhancements to the Texas Business Court.
Up and running since September of last year, the Texas Business Court is a statewide, specialized trial court created to resolve complex business disputes.
House Bill 40, sponsored by Rep. Brooks Landgraf, and Senate Bill 2883, introduced by Sen. Bryan Hughes, seek to make additional enhancements to the court.
Yesterday, the House passed HB 40, a “major victory” says Texans for Lawsuit Reform President Lee Parsley, who is urging the Senate to also “pass this important legislation.”
“The reforms included in HB 40 by Rep. Brooks Landgraf – together with the reforms included in SB 29 by Sen. Bryan Hughes – will help position Texas as a major challenger to the decades-long dominance of Delaware’s business courts,” Parsley said.
“TLR applauds the Texas Legislature for taking swift action this session to reinforce Texas’s reputation as an economic powerhouse and the greatest state in the nation to live, work and innovate."
According to TLR, the bills will make additional enhancements to the Texas Business Court by:
* Deleting the provision abolishing the Business Court’s divisions in rural area;
* Reducing the amount-in-controversy requirement for filing a lawsuit in or transferring a case to the Business Court, from $10 million to $5 million;
* Including large insurance disputes (excluding first-party claims) in the Business Court’s jurisdiction;
* Clarifying the Business Court’s “supplemental jurisdiction;” and
* Allowing companies to designate the Business Court in their contracts as the exclusive venue for dispute resolution.
SB 2883 was heard by the Senate Committee on Jurisprudence on May 7 and has been left pending in committee.
TLR’s mission is to foster freedom, innovation and job creation by advocating for a fair, efficient and predictable civil justice system staffed by competent and independent judges who apply the constitution and laws as written.
