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The Texas Business Court in Dallas, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026.<\/p>\n
Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Two years into its existence, the Texas Business Court has proven it can resolve complex business disputes quickly. But so far, the\u00a0Texas Legislature<\/a> has only funded five of the 11 divisions it created, leaving West, East and South Texas without access to the business court.<\/p>\n The five funded divisions cover the state\u2019s most populous cities \u2014 Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin.<\/p>\n According to the court\u2019s midyear report looking at September 2024 through April 2026, 53% of cases have been corporate-governance claims, 37% qualified transactions, 6% intellectual property and 4% statutory or regulatory claims.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But in large swaths of the state, attorneys handling complex oil and gas disputes remain subject to local district court dockets packed with criminal, family and civil cases, meaning it can take months for rulings on motions.<\/p>\n Related: Texas’ business court boom: New legal venue outpaces expectations<\/a><\/p>\n Yetter Coleman partner Tim McConn said that while judges in West Texas are sophisticated and capable of handling complex oil and gas dockets, they lack the resources \u2014 such as law clerks \u2014 that judges in major metro areas have.<\/p>\n He pointed to the 143rd District Court, where Judge Alan Nicholas presides over rural Reeves, Ward and Loving counties. While Nicholas is doing a commendable job of mastering oil and gas litigation, McConn said there should be a business court there.<\/p>\n \u201cI think a business court would be very helpful out there. If you\u2019ve got a lot of high-profile, high-dollar, complicated oil and gas civil cases that the judges out there sometimes struggle to get to just because they have so much on their docket,\u201d McConn said, \u201cand it would be helpful to have a business court that could sort of take those cases and specialize in those cases.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n McConn cited a case he has in West Texas. He and his team argued the case in January, then had to wait six months for a ruling.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not surprised, and I\u2019m not put out by that because I know that the judge out there. He\u2019ll get to it as quickly as he can, but he\u2019s got a lot of other stuff on his docket \u2014 not just oil and gas cases, not just big civil cases, but also car crash cases, medical malpractice cases, criminal cases, family cases,\u201d McConn said.<\/p>\n He added that while judges in rural areas of the state may lack resources, he thinks they may be reluctant to give up the big complex cases.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they\u2019re all intellectually very well equipped to handle those cases. But I think a lot of the reasons why the business courts were created in Harris County and Dallas County would apply equally in Midland County and the counties west of Midland County,\u201d McConn said.<\/p>\n He said that the option to be in the business court should be available to companies across the whole state, not just those in the major metro areas.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n