West Virginia Supreme Court to Hear Business Court Ideas

The state Supreme Court is set to discuss a court system for business-related lawsuits.

An announcement was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in the Supreme Court chambers in Charleston.

Earlier this year the court asked for the public’s comment on the new system.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Darrell Pratt is chairman of a court-appointed committee. He has said the goal is to have 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 business court would handle cases such as contract and shareholder disputes, trade secrets and securities cases, but not cases involving product liability, workplace injuries, consumer environmental actions or criminal matters.