(Editor’s Note: Last week Gwinnett County announced that the county would participate in a Business Court. (See GwinnettForum of July 22). Knowing that some Gwinnettians did not understand the formation of a Business Court, we asked Superior Court Judge Randy Rich, who will direct the court along with State Court Judge Joseph Iannazzone, for an explanation.—eeb)
By Randy Rich, judge, Superior Court of Gwinnett County
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — How fast the trial calendar moves is critical to the resolution of cases. Unfortunately, there are usually several obstacles.
Rich
First, the newest cases are at the bottom of the civil trial calendar. In Superior Court, you may be behind divorce cases, land use cases, or custody disputes. In State Court, you may be behind credit card cases, garnishments, or landlord tenant disputes. To make matters worse, your civil trial may not be reached quickly because of the volume of criminal trials your judge must also hear.
Generally, the criminal trials take priority over the civil trials because of speedy trial issues, or cases where the Defendant has been in custody awaiting his day in court.
Business courts prioritize the resolution of complex civil disputes. In some states, a select few business court judges travel circuits in order to devote all of their time to the business court docket. In Georgia, the judges themselves accept the added caseload to their docket and agree to devote the additional docket time necessary to resolve the disputes quickly. Fulton County also uses senior judges to assist with the extra docket time required.
Business Court was created to expedite business disputes with the idea that commerce, ongoing construction, or a complicated commercial transaction had to be resolved, despite the dispute, and the dispute needed to resolved as quickly as possible.
For example, if a hotel is under construction when a dispute arises, the hotel construction still must move forward and an expedited docket can help get the legal issues solved more quickly.
Fulton judges would only hear Fulton cases. Gwinnett judges would only hear Gwinnett cases. A judge who might not have docket time for a complex business suit would send it to me and I would make time to include it in my docket so it could be fast tracked if needed.
Usually this is done during lunch hours. The business court idea has been around for 10 years or so in most states.
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