HB-5128, As Passed Senate, September 20, 2012
SENATE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 5128
A bill to amend 1961 PA 236, entitled
"Revised judicature act of 1961,"
by amending section 308 (MCL 600.308), as amended by 1994 PA 375,
by amending the heading for chapter 80, and by adding sections
8031, 8033, 8035, 8037, 8039, 8041, 8043, 8045, and 8047; and to
repeal acts and parts of acts.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 308. (1) The court of appeals has jurisdiction on appeals
from the following orders and judgments which shall be appealable
as a matter of right:
(a) All final judgments from the circuit court, court of
claims, and recorder's court, except judgments on ordinance
violations in the traffic and ordinance division of recorder's
court
and final judgments and orders described in subsection (2).
subsections
(2) and (3).
(b) Those orders of the probate court from which an appeal as
of right may be taken under section 861.
(2) The court of appeals has jurisdiction on appeal from the
following orders and judgments which shall be reviewable only upon
application for leave to appeal granted by the court of appeals:
(a) A final judgment or order made by the circuit court under
any of the following circumstances:
(i) In an appeal from an order, sentence, or judgment of the
probate court under section 863(1) and (2).
(ii) In an appeal from a final judgment or order of the
district court appealed to the circuit court under section 8342.
(iii) An appeal from a final judgment or order of a municipal
court.
(iv) In an appeal from an ordinance violation conviction in the
traffic and ordinance division of recorder's court of the city of
Detroit if the conviction occurred before September 1, 1981.
(b) An order, sentence, or judgment of the probate court if
the probate court certifies the issue or issues under section
863(3).
(c) A final judgment or order made by the recorder's court of
the city of Detroit in an appeal from the district court in the
thirty-sixth
district pursuant to under
section 8342(2).
(d) A final order or judgment from the circuit court or
recorder's court for the city of Detroit based upon a defendant's
plea of guilty or nolo contendere.
(e) Any other judgment or interlocutory order as determined by
court rule.
(3) An order concerning the assignment of a case to the
business court under chapter 80 shall not be appealed to the court
of appeals.
CHAPTER 80
THE CYBER BUSINESS COURT
Sec. 8031. (1) As used in this section to section 8047:
(a) "Business court" means a special docket as described and
organized under section 8033 and administered as provided in this
section to section 8047.
(b) "Business enterprise" means a sole proprietorship,
partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability
company, limited liability partnership, for-profit or not-for-
profit corporation or professional corporation, business trust,
real estate investment trust, or any other entity in which a
business may lawfully be conducted in the jurisdiction in which the
business is being conducted. Business enterprise does not include
an ecclesiastical or religious organization.
(c) "Business or commercial dispute" means any of the
following:
(i) An action in which all of the parties are business
enterprises.
(ii) An action in which 1 or more of the parties is a business
enterprise and the other parties are its or their present or former
owners, managers, shareholders, members, directors, officers,
agents, employees, suppliers, or competitors, and the claims arise
out of those relationships.
(iii) An action in which 1 of the parties is a nonprofit
organization, and the claims arise out of that party's
organizational structure, governance, or finances.
(iv) An action involving the sale, merger, purchase,
combination, dissolution, liquidation, organizational structure,
governance, or finances of a business enterprise.
(2) Business or commercial disputes include, but are not
limited to, the following types of actions:
(a) Those involving information technology, software, or
website development, maintenance, or hosting.
(b) Those involving the internal organization of business
entities and the rights or obligations of shareholders, partners,
members, owners, officers, directors, or managers.
(c) Those arising out of contractual agreements or other
business dealings, including licensing, trade secret, intellectual
property, antitrust, securities, noncompete, nonsolicitation, and
confidentiality agreements if all available administrative remedies
are completely exhausted, including, but not limited to,
alternative dispute resolution processes prescribed in the
agreements.
(d) Those arising out of commercial transactions, including
commercial bank transactions.
(e) Those arising out of business or commercial insurance
policies.
(f) Those involving commercial real property.
(3) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), business or
commercial disputes expressly exclude the following types of
actions:
(a) Personal injury actions including, but not limited to,
wrongful death and malpractice actions.
(b) Product liability actions in which any claimant is an
individual.
(c) Matters within the jurisdiction of the family division of
circuit court.
(d) Proceedings under the probate code of 1939, 1939 PA 288,
MCL 710.21 to 712A.32.
(e) Proceedings under the estates and protected individuals
code, 1998 PA 386, MCL 700.1101 to 700.8206.
(f) Criminal matters.
(g) Condemnation matters.
(h) Appeals from lower courts or any administrative agency.
(i) Proceedings to enforce judgments of any kind.
(j) Landlord-tenant matters involving only residential
property.
(k) Land contract or mortgage foreclosure matters involving
residential property.
(l) Motor vehicle insurance coverage under the insurance code
of 1956, 1956 PA 218, MCL 500.100 to 500.8302, except where 2 or
more parties to the action are insurers as that term is defined
under section 106 of the insurance code of 1956, 1956 PA 218, MCL
500.106.
(m) Insurance coverage disputes in which an insured or an
alleged insured is an individual consumer.
(n) Employment discrimination.
(o) Civil rights including, but not limited to, an action
brought under any of the following:
(i) The Elliott-Larsen civil rights act, 1976 PA 453, MCL
37.2101 to 37.2804.
(ii) The persons with disabilities civil rights act, 1976 PA
220, MCL 37.1101 to 37.1607.
(iii) Chapter XXI of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL
750.146 to 750.148.
(p) Wrongful discharge, except for actions involving corporate
officers or directors.
(q) Worker's compensation claims under the worker's disability
compensation act, 1969 PA 317, MCL 418.101 to 418.941.
Sec. 8033. (1) Every circuit with not fewer than 3 circuit
judges shall have a business court and shall submit a plan for the
operation of the business court to the state court administrative
office and the supreme court for approval.
(2) A circuit other than a circuit described in subsection (1)
may submit an administrative order for the operation of a business
court to the state court administrative office and the supreme
court for review as part of a concurrent jurisdiction plan.
(3) The purpose of a business court is to do all of the
following:
(a) Establish judicial structures that will help all court
users by improving the efficiency of the courts.
(b) Allow business or commercial disputes to be resolved with
the expertise, technology, and efficiency required by the
information age economy.
(c) Enhance the accuracy, consistency, and predictability of
decisions in business and commercial cases.
Sec. 8035. (1) A business court has jurisdiction over business
and commercial disputes in which the amount in controversy exceeds
$25,000.00.
(2) Venue of a suit in the business court is as provided in
chapter 16.
(3) An action shall be assigned to a business court if all or
part of the action includes a business or commercial dispute. An
action that involves a business or commercial dispute that is filed
in a court with a business docket shall be maintained in a business
court although it also involves claims that are not business or
commercial disputes, including excluded claims under section
8031(3).
(4) An action shall be assigned to a business court judge by
blind draw, unless the jurisdiction and venue of the case lies in a
county described in section 8033(2).
(5) An action assigned to a business court judge may be
reassigned by blind draw to another judge as prescribed by the plan
submitted under section 8033(1) or (2), as applicable, if the
action ceases to include a business or commercial dispute.
(6) An action that does not initially include a business or
commercial dispute but that subsequently includes a business or
commercial dispute as a result of a cross-claim, counterclaim,
third-party complaint, amendment, or any other modification of the
action shall be reassigned by blind draw to a business court after
the action is modified to include a business or commercial dispute
as prescribed by the plan submitted under section 8033(1) or (2),
as applicable.
(7) Upon motion of a party, the chief judge of the judicial
circuit may review assignments under subsections (3), (5), and (6).
The ruling of the chief judge under this subsection is not an order
that may be appealed under section 308.
Sec. 8037. (1) Except as provided in subsection (7), a
business court consists of sitting circuit judges assigned by the
supreme court in a number reasonably reflecting the caseload of the
business court. While sitting as a judge of a business court, a
circuit judge may exercise the jurisdiction of the business court
as provided by law.
(2) A circuit judge assigned as a judge of a business court is
assigned for a term of 6 years and may be reassigned at the
expiration of the judge's term.
(3) The term of a judge of a business court expires on April
1, 2019, and on April 1 of every sixth year after that.
(4) If a circuit judge acting as a business court judge before
whom a case has been tried or a motion heard is disabled or absent
from the place where court is held, another circuit judge
designated to sit as the judge of a business court may continue to
hear, determine, and sign all matters that his or her predecessor
could have heard, determined, and signed.
(5) If a circuit judge designated to sit as a judge of the
business court leaves office for any reason before signing a
judgment and after a finding of fact or rendering an opinion upon
proof submitted and argument of counsel disposing of all or part of
the issues in the case involved, a successor as judge of the
business court may proceed with that action in a manner consistent
with the finding of fact or opinion. The successor judge has the
same powers as if the finding of fact had been made or the opinion
had been rendered by the successor judge.
(6) If a circuit judge leaves office while sitting as a judge
of a business court, the supreme court may assign a circuit judge
to serve for the remainder of the judge's term on the business
court.
(7) A concurrent jurisdiction plan adopted under chapter 4 and
approved by the supreme court may provide that 1 or more probate
judges or district judges within the circuit may exercise the power
and jurisdiction of the business court.
Sec. 8039. (1) Whenever possible, an action commenced in a
business court shall be filed by electronic communications.
(2) A business court shall meet minimum standards as
determined by the state court administrative office, which may
include electronic filing, telephone or video conferencing, and
early alternative dispute resolution intervention.
(3) All written opinions in business court cases shall be made
available on an indexed website.
(4) The practice and procedure of a business court not
otherwise governed by the provisions of sections 8031 to 8047 shall
be governed by practices and procedures prescribed for the circuit
court. The supreme court may adopt rules governing practice and
procedure in the business court.
Sec. 8041. (1) An appeal from a business court shall be to the
court of appeals, as prescribed by supreme court rules.
(2) The time within which an appeal as of right from a
business court may be taken shall be governed by supreme court
rules concerning appeals from the circuit court.
Sec. 8043. The Michigan judicial institute shall provide
appropriate training for all circuit judges serving as business
court judges.
Sec. 8045. The fees payable in civil actions in circuit court
apply to cases in a business court, unless otherwise provided by
law.
Sec. 8047. Any case that is pending on a pilot business court
docket on January 1, 2013 shall remain on that pilot business court
docket and assigned to the judge who was initially assigned to that
case until its completion.
Enacting section 1. Sections 8001, 8003, 8005, 8007, 8009,
8011, 8013, 8015, 8017, 8019, 8021, 8023, 8025, and 8027 of the
revised judicature act of 1961, 1961 PA 236, MCL 600.8001,
600.8003, 600.8005, 600.8007, 600.8009, 600.8011, 600.8013,
600.8015, 600.8017, 600.8019, 600.8021, 600.8023, 600.8025, and
600.8027, are repealed.
Enacting section 2. This amendatory act takes effect January
1, 2013.