NH Approves Business Court

New Hampshire has joined twenty other states that have established a business court. Governor Lynch signed the legislation that will allow for the creation of the court that will deal exclusively with business legal issues.

Currently, business disputes are handled in the standard NH court system. With the fast pace of business, some were frustrated with having to endure lengthy cases in the system. Business disputes generally have less priority in the current system than criminal cases and as a result often are pushed to the back of the line.

Howard Myers, an attorney from Lebanon specializing in business law, said, "If you have a transaction or a deal, you can't sit around two or three years because that would kill the deal.”

Increasing legislation in areas such as environmental law is also a reason why the court was pressed for. Having a judge that deals specifically with business matters will mean that they can rely on their expertise in their field to move cases along to closure faster. A streamlined system is what is wanted.

Rather than just meeting the desires of impatient businesses here in the state, it will give incentive to new businesses to come to New Hampshire. Chief Justice John Broderick said that if the state didn’t allow the new system that "we're going to lose market share. People won't come. "The court system of the 21st century has to be competitive in a way it never has before because there are options."

Chief Justice Broderick stressed the benefits for the state saying, "it is not in the long-term interests of the state courts or the people of New Hampshire to have more and more cases settled behind closed doors, and a system of justice develop without public input." He added that the court would only handle cases between businesses and not those involving consumers. Chief Justice Broderick hopes that the court will be operating by the end of the year.