Subcommittee Carries Over Proposal for Business/Complex Litigation Docket After Debate

The civil subcommittee on Friday discussed a proposal from Delegate Willett to create a specialty business or complex litigation docket and ultimately voted to carry the measure over to the 2027 session for further work.

Committee counsel told members the substitute would move the proposal into a new chapter/article, replace a mandatory transfer with a request process for assigning cases to the specialty docket, and add a delayed effective date to permit administrative setup.

"There are 3 main changes in the substitute from the original version ... now instead of the mandatory transfer to the business or complex litigation docket, there's instead a process for submitting a request for it to go on that docket," counsel summarized. Delegate Willett, the bill patron, said the intent is to recognize "that some cases are more complicated than others" and to use existing judicial resources to give specialized attention in appropriate situations.

Keith Martin of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce testified in favor, saying the recommendation came from Blueprint Virginia and that roughly 30 states have business courts or specialized dockets. In opposition, Elliot Buckner of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association said the draft's $100,000 threshold was too low and warned it "creates an express lane for businesses and clogs up the travel lanes for all other litigants."

Members expressed mixed views about the threshold and resource implications; Delegate Sullivan, a cosponsor, said large commercial cases can "clog things up" and specialized handling may clear dockets. After discussion, a motion to carry the bill over to the 2027 session carried, giving sponsors and stakeholders time to refine threshold language and administrative details.

The chair said carrying the bill forward would provide another session to continue work and "get it in a position where there's less, vehement opposition" before advancing further.