What’s being called the biggest shakeup to Texas courts in over a century became official in Fort Worth today.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott swore in the justices for the Texas Business Court, a new trial court system that will hear civil suits stemming from the corporate world. At the kickoff celebration, NBC 5 got answers from state leaders on the oversight the new system will have.
Texas’s 10 newest judges have been sworn into a legal system all their own.
At a ceremony at Texas A&M law school in downtown Fort Worth on Thursday afternoon, Governor Abbott took oaths of office from the justices of the Texas Business Court.
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“I think the best way to sum it up is, it’s about time,” said Abbott.
Officials said the business court was a new statewide trial court system that would only hear civil cases connected to big industry, including issues involving corporations and their shareholders.
It became law on September 1 after House Bill 19 was passed by the Texas legislature.
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“In what I regard as the most substantial modification of the judicial system of our state since 1891,” said Evan Young, Texas Supreme Court Justice for Place 9.
Young said that was the last time the structure of the Texas courts system was changed.
At the ceremony, Abbott said he pushed for the measure after becoming aware that dozens of other states already had similar systems in place.
“Texas must be in the vanguard,” said Abbott. “We must be the national leader, we are expected to be the national leader.”
Proponents said the business court would help resolve major corporate legal issues more quickly and keep building the state’s economy.
Republican state representative Andrew Murr was one of the leaders of the effort to establish the Texas Business Court.
NBC 5 had questions about how state leaders would keep these courts well organized and ethical.
Under the new system, justices would serve two-year terms – but many corporate lawsuits can last far longer than that.
NBC 5 asked if the two-year term would mean judges could be pulled off cases in the middle of a trial if their term expired. In response, officials said a lack of term limits would prevent that.
“By design, the governor has fantastic candidates to serve in those roles,” said Murr who represents District 53. “And everyone in this room has an expectation that as long as those judges are doing their jobs, that they will be subject to reappointment.”
The justices in the business court system are not elected, instead being appointed by the governor.
With the Texas Business Court dealing with major companies, which could be past or present political donors, NBC 5 asked how state leaders would prevent the appearance of conflicts of interest in the court’s decisions.
In response, Murr said the business court justices were subject to a more rigorous review process than other district judges – and any of their decisions could be appealed to an appeals court or the Texas Supreme Court.
“So there is an adequate review process, and I am confident by everything that I’ve observed in the last year that we’re going to find that no fear exists for having quality judges on this bench,” said Murr.
The swearing-in was on Thursday, but there was still one more hurdle for the 10 justices to face: the Texas Business Court judges will have to be confirmed by the Texas Senate before they can begin hearing cases.
