West Virginia Supreme Court to Debut Business Court

The West Virginia Supreme Court will debut a business court division next month.

Chief Justice Robin Davis announced Tuesday the new system for business-related lawsuits will start on Oct. 10.

Davis says the court will focus on complex issues that arise in commercial litigation. It also would relieve circuit court 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, personal injury and wrongful death, and consumer class actions.

Davis says the business court “is a long time coming.”

The court will have seven regions. The court’s central location will be announced next month. Each region will encompass six to 11 counties.