Haynes and Boone, LLP Partner Natasha Breaux authored an article for The Texas Lawbook describing how to get a case into the new Texas Business Courts now that they have opened.
Read an excerpt below.
Texas’ new business court and Fifteenth Court of Appeals are now open for business. But how do you get your case into — or out of — those courts? And how do you move your case between divisions within the business court?
As a threshold matter, it is important to understand the structure of the business court, particularly which divisions are open and which are not.
The business court is a single, specialized trial court divided into 11 geographical divisions. Five divisions, which encompass the five largest cities (Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin) and their surrounding counties, are operational already. The remaining six divisions will begin operating in 2026 only if they are reauthorized by the Texas Legislature during the 2025 legislative session and funded through additional legislative appropriations. Each of the five operational divisions has two judges, while each of the six forthcoming divisions will have one judge.
A map of the divisions and a list of the counties served by each division can be found on the business court’s website here and here, respectively.
For a case to be allowed in business court, two requirements must be satisfied: jurisdiction and venue. First, the business court must have jurisdiction over the case. The business court’s jurisdiction is concurrent with the district courts’ jurisdiction for certain types of civil cases, as provided by section 25A.004 of the Texas Government Code. Second, a county in an operating division of the business court must be the proper venue for the case. Venue is established as provided by traditional law or, if a written contract specifies a county as the venue for the case, as provided by the contract.
To read the full article from The Texas Lawbook, click here.
