West Virginia Seeks Input on Proposed Business Court

The West Virginia Supreme Court is seeking comment on proposed rules for a new court system for business-related lawsuits.

The court is reviewing draft rules presented by a committee led by Wayne County Circuit Judge Darrell Pratt.

Pratt has said that the goal is to design a court that can focus on complex issues that arise in commercial litigation. It also would relieve circuit judges from handling novel or complex issues that they may not be trained to handle.

The court would handle cases such as contract disputes between two or more businesses, shareholder disputes, trade secrets and securities cases. However, the business court would not handle cases such as product liability, workplace injuries, consumer environmental actions or criminal cases.

Comments should be filed with the court by May 11.