Texas Business Court Judge Sets Bar for Accepting Removed Cases

Texas’ business courts must accept cases removed from district courts so long as they aren’t older than 30 days and meet other requirements, a judge ruled Monday.

The ruling potentially opens the courts to acts of forum shopping by parties upset by a ruling from the initial court, but “Texas law has mechanisms for addressing it,” Judge Melissa Andrews of the Business Court, Third Division, wrote in the order. Andrews will hold an injunction hearing Tuesday.

The decision appears to bless clever lawyering from SafeLease Insurance Services, a plaintiff that removed its suit to Andrews’ court on Jan. 29—with ...