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Open for business; New fast-track Fulton court tries to fill a niche
For years, lawyers with high-dollar, complicated business lawsuits dreaded filing a case in the overburdened Fulton Superior Court. Sure, you could file a lawsuit there, but would it ever get resolved? Now, some judges and lawyers are trying to get the word out that there's an alternative: a newly created, fast-track "business court" presided over by senior judges with experience in complex business disputes. "We want to bring business back to the courts," said Senior Judge Elizabeth Long, noting that businesses have been funneling cases to private alternatives such as mediation and arbitration. … So far, they have just seven cases. Lawyers for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport's fired international terminal design team want to move their case there but have been blocked by the city. The new court is part of a national trend toward specialized courts, from family courts to drug courts. There's even talk in Congress of funding a pilot project to create health courts to deal with medical malpractice. These micro-courts help take pressure off big-city courts that are overwhelmed with drug and other criminal cases, which must take precedence over civil cases because of the defendants' constitutional right to a speedy trial. "There's been an increasing emphasis on drug prosecutions, and because of the sheer volume of criminal cases, it's increasingly difficult for civil cases to go to trial," said Thomas Eaton, a law professor at the University of Georgia.
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