Tennessee Supreme Court to Create Business Court Pilot Project

The Tennessee Supreme Court has created a new business court pilot project aimed at making complex commercial litigation more efficient.

The new pilot court will be located in Nashville and be overseen by Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle, a chancellor since 1995 who has presided over numerous complex business and commercial disputes.

The project will focus on speeding up cases and developing a body of rulings that will make it easier for businesses and lawyers to predict outcomes in complex cases involving commercial interests.

“Our court system must do a better job serving the needs of businesses that provide jobs to Tennesseans,” said Chief Justice Sharon Lee. “With the creation of a business court, we will have more predictable, consistent results, and more timely resolutions of business disputes.”

More than half of states have business courts. Tennessee court officials say they can be an effective tool to attract and retain businesses.

“Not all judges like the cases tried the same way,” Bill O’Bryan, who leads Butler Snow’s commercial litigation group in Nashville, told The Tennessean. “When you develop a familiarity with the business court and how it’s going to work, the lawyers should be able to present cases more efficiently.”