Our first case in the newly created Texas Business Court didn’t last long. We filed a Special Appearance and Motion to Dismiss, and Plaintiffs bailed on the case. A couple of thoughts about the experience:
1. Judge Whitehill doesn’t mess around. Trial dates in 1-year, monthly status conferences, prompt hearings, scheduling conferences, protective orders, case schedules, extremely active case manager, etc.
2. The Business Court has a mandate from the Texas legislature to provide for quick and efficient resolutions of significant business disputes to, among other things, eliminate the expense and significant delays (e.g., 3–6-year time to trial) that are found in many Texas jurisdictions.
3. I was very impressed by the process. Please file all of your business cases here in Dallas.
4. The case was assigned to Judge Whitehill, one of the two Business Court judges here in Dallas.
5. Business Court Rule 4(b), which requires, e.g., a “list [of] the names of opposing law firms and/or counsel in the case” should be updated to remove this requirement. Nobody is going to serve supplemental disclosures every time a new attorney appears in the case, and that information should be reflected on the docket anyways. Or, if they are filed, they will clog the docket.
