Rush: Courts Put Cases on ‘Fast Track’
Chief Justice Loretta Rush gave an update on the commercial court project in her State of the Judiciary address.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court says a commercial court pilot project will help get complex business cases on the fast track. Loretta Rush says because of time deadlines for criminal and juvenile cases, commercial cases can sometimes languish.
The Supreme Court announced Thursday the establishment of the first six commercial courts as part of the pilot project. Those courts, which will deal specifically with business-related litigation, will begin hearing cases June 1.
Rush says as pilot project rolls on, the working group that gave recommendations for the project will continue to give updates and guidance. She says they want to come up with best practices for getting the cases through the courts.
"There’s a range of different options with regard to the commercial courts to bring a level of expertise to the type of case that comes before them," says Rush. "What are the resource needs? In addition to the law clerks that we’re going to provide to do specialized research for the judges, what other tools do they need to make sure that these cases get through efficiently?"
Rush adds they’ll be looking at how alternate dispute resolution is going to play in with the courts. They’ll also look into mediation as a counterpart to the cases in order to get them through the courts in a cost-effective manner.
The pilot project is slated to run for no more than three years once it begins in June. However, Rush anticipates they will make some tentative decisions about continuing the project by the end of the first year.
Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush says the courts will help give commercial cases needed attention.