Texas Business Courts Are Facing Remand Blitz Over Date Debate

A fight is brewing in Texas’ three-month-old business court system, threatening to eliminate one-third of cases docketed so far.

Texas created these courts to streamline complex business disputes with legislation that applies to “civil actions commenced on or after” the courts opened on Sept. 1. Most litigators take that to mean the courts can accept new cases filed since that date, not cases that already existed in non-business courts.

But a competing argument—rejected so far by three business court judges—points to language some lawyers say opens the court’s doors to older cases. The law, H.B. 19, ...