A little over a year ago, the new Texas Business Court and the Fifteenth Court of Appeals opened. Hundreds of cases have since been filed in the venues, and the judges who serve on those benches, some of whom are used to promoting themselves as viable candidates during election season, are taking on a new role: promoting the courts both to lawyers and companies at home and internationally.
Fifteenth Court of Appeals Justice Scott Field said getting the word out about the new courts, which were established in part to signal to the business community that Texas is a place where you can expect fast, consistent rulings in complex business disputes, has been slow going.
“It’s still a regular occurrence that I talk to lawyers who really don’t even know what we do,” Field said.
Harvard Law School asked First Division Judge Bill Whitehill to give a virtual presentation on corporate governance back in March. The presentation enticed Austrian lawyer Stefan Heiss, who just finished his LL.M at Harvard, to agree to an unpaid internship with the business court. He’s been interning with the First Division in Dallas since August.
“He has been just a tremendous addition to the court in terms of his knowledge of corporate governance issues, perspective, and [he’s] just an incredibly smart young man,” Whitehill said.
In October, both Field and Eleventh Division Business Court Judge Sofia Adrogué took the mission of getting the word out about the Texas Business Court system internationally.
‘Building Bridges’
The American Board of Trial Advocates and the Argentine Jury Trial Association jointly hosted a conference earlier this month titled “Building Bridges Across Continents: Sharing Skills from the Argentine Legal System and American Civil Jury Trials.”
Traveling to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to talk about the Texas Business Court was more than a special opportunity for Adrogué — it was a homecoming.
Adrogué emigrated with her family to the U.S. from Buenos Aires when she was 8 years old.
“It is an … honor to be recognized by my country of birth, and then to be able to impart, as the name of the conference suggests, build bridges,” Adrogue said.
Adrogué spoke about the work the business court is doing in its first year.
“I think it’s also indicative of other countries and other judicial systems wanting to continually engage, be educated and grow, which is something we all want to do,” Adrogué said.
The Eleventh Division of the Business Court in Houston earlier this month hosted a delegation of members of the judiciary and entrepreneurs from Argentina, specifically members of the Association of Women Judges of Argentina, to talk and see the courtroom Adrogué uses for the business court. Adrogué is an honorary member of the Association of Women Judges of Argentina.
In addition to touting the benefits of the Texas Business Court as a preferred venue for complex business disputes, Adrogué said the Argentinians she spoke with were also interested in the basics of how justice is administered in Texas, and were eager to learn about the adversarial process, like the use of oral arguments and jury trials.
Cross-Border Relations
Earlier this month, Field traveled to Monterey, Mexico, to speak on a panel about the business court. He was invited by the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico.
“It was great. Had a good crowd, had a lot of interest. It seemed like almost just the things we’ve been doing in Texas, going around and promoting the courts, but just this time in Mexico,” Field said.
Some of the American attorneys present for the panel discussion had a goal of enticing Mexican businesses to move to Texas, and Field emphasized that they can expect consistency from the specialized courts. Field said for companies operating in Mexico, making the move to neighboring Texas can be an appealing proposition.
The American Chamber Mexico posted on its website that “Given that Texas accounts for over 40% of bilateral trade between Mexico and the United States, an efficient and specialized judicial system may be decisive in maintaining the dynamism of economic exchange.”
Field said he may return to Mexico again to speak about the court in Mexico City with the American Chamber Mexico.
It has been one year since the new appellate court opened. Field said they are hitting their stride.
“Opinions are coming out on a more regular basis. Everyone’s meeting their deadlines and things like that,” Field said. “I feel like it’s going really well. It’s been a process, getting it going.”
The three Fifteenth Court of Appeals justices are based in Austin but don’t have their own courtroom or chambers. They have an office but have been traveling all over the state to hear oral arguments. The court will be at Texas A&M School of Law in Fort Worth on Thursday to hear oral arguments in three cases.
“For all of our oral arguments, we haven’t been in the same place two months in a row,” Field said.