New York Commercial Division Advisory Council Report on Business Court Benefits

In 2013, then Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman created the New York Commercial Division Advisory Council to provide advice “on an ongoing basis about all matters involving and surrounding the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.” Business court pioneer Robert L. Haig has chaired the Advisory Council since its inception.

Over the years, the Advisory Council has proposed new Commercial Division Rules, concerning, e.g., technology assisted review in discoveryimmediate trial and evidentiary hearings, the use of word limits instead of page limits, direct testimony by affidavit in non-jury cases, and time limits on trials. The Advisory Council also created a video, which can be found here, on the Commercial Division’s history and role in New York’s court system.

Attached here is a 2019 Advisory Council report, The Benefits of the Commercial Division to the State of New York.  This most recent Advisory Council effort gives a detailed summary analysis of potential benefits a robust business court can provide to its home state, region, or nation.  In addition to the New York experience, the report draws from other states’ studies, and more general business court resources. It further adduces aspects of national and international competition among business courts.

Posted by Lee Applebaum