Elon Law Professor Tom Molony discusses the growth of the Business Court in North Carolina and the Court’s value to the state’s economic future in this week’s “Elon Law Now.”
“With Governor Pat McCrory’s nomination last week of Mike Robinson to serve as the State’s fourth Business Court judge, North Carolina has taken another important step toward making the State a more attractive place for business formation. Last year, the General Assembly paved the way for the governor’s nomination by authorizing an increase in the number of Business Court judges from three to five. At the same time, the General Assembly adopted legislation that widens the Business Court’s jurisdiction and provides a fast-track for appeals from the Business Court to the North Carolina Supreme Court. All of these measures should facilitate the creation of a robust body of case law that will offer outcome predictability, which is an important factor in deciding where to form a business. The nomination of a fourth Business Court judge is promising news for this process, and if the State soon can find room in its budget for a fifth judge, it will demonstrate a real commitment to being business-friendly.”
Molony joined the Elon faculty in 2008 after practicing corporate and commercial law with the Charlotte firm of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson. In 2015, Molony delivered his sixth consecutive North Carolina Business Law Update at the annual meeting of the Business Law and International Law and Practice Sections of the North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA). Molony published a seventh annual report on important business law cases in a 2015 “Business Law Developments” article distributed to members of the Business Law Section of the NCBA. More information about Elon Law Professor Tom Molony is available here.
Elon University School of Law is one of only a handful of law schools in the nation that is home to a working court—the North Carolina Business Court. The court hears cases involving complex commercial and corporate law disputes in the law school’s Robert E. Long Courtroom. The location of the Business Court provides Elon Law students with numerous educational benefits. First, students are exposed to the workings of a unique and well-regarded court. Second, students interact with accomplished attorneys and judges who have special knowledge of corporate and commercial law. Third, students engage cutting-edge issues in corporate law and hone trial advocacy skills, both of which are beneficial to their professional and career development. North Carolina’s first Business Court was established in Greensboro in 1996. The Court now has two additional locations in Charlotte and Raleigh. More than 20 Elon Law students have clerked, externed or interned for judges of the North Carolina Business Court.
“Elon Law Now” is a weekly series of commentary and analysis about current legal news by members of the faculty at Elon Law. Prior “Elon Law Now” commentary is available here.