Many Iowa businesses have discovered that accessing civil justice through our courts is easier and more cost-efficient today thanks to the Iowa Business Court, an innovation of the Iowa Supreme Court Civil Justice Reform Task Force. The Iowa Business Court has already made an impact on our state and could be a game-changer for our state’s businesses in the future.

In 2012, the task force, made up of dozens of volunteers from all corners of the business community, recommended that the Iowa Supreme Court establish a specialty court. This specialty court was to be presided over by judges with specialized knowledge and experience in business law, and it would only hear high-value and complex business litigation cases. By establishing this specialized court, business litigants would have faster and less expensive access to civil justice.

The Supreme Court heeded the task force’s recommendation, and the Iowa Business Court was formed as a three-year pilot project in early 2013.

This year, as the Business Court’s pilot period came to a close, the Supreme Court reviewed the work of the Business Court. It concluded that the Business Court had succeeded in its goals of lowering the amount of time it took for a case to be resolved and of lessening the expense of utilizing the court system. And it noted that the businesses and lawyers who had participated in the pilot program felt strongly that the specialty Business Court should be a permanent part of the Iowa court system. 

In February, the Iowa Business Court formally became a permanent fixture in Iowa’s business and legal landscape. The establishment of a permanent business court should assure businesses of all types that the Iowa court system acknowledges and understands their unique and particular needs in litigating disputes. As an example of the Supreme Court’s commitment to businesses’ needs, the three judges of the Business Court have traveled throughout the state, spending more than half of their Business Court time hearing cases wherever the business litigants chose to file.

As the specialty court continues to hear complex business cases, it will become an increasingly more helpful resource. It will also produce more court rulings and jury instructions, which will help businesses make informed decisions about how best to manage their litigation decisions and their future cases.

The Iowa judicial branch encourages litigants with business conflicts with $200,000 or more in dispute to bring their cases to the Business Court. All parties involved in the case must agree to move the case, but the case will still be heard in the county where it was filed.

Iowa’s courts continue to strive to develop the best, most efficient, and most just system of dispute resolution in the nation. The Iowa Business Court is now a permanent and critical part of that equation.

Maintaining the Business Court will provide some challenges, however. The Iowa Legislature appropriated an identical amount of funding for the judicial branch in fiscal year 2017 as it did for fiscal 2016. This appropriation leaves the judicial branch with a roughly $5 million shortfall compared with its needs in fully serving all Iowans. Iowa’s courts need to be adequately funded in order to continue to provide important specialized services like the Iowa Business Court in the future.

As the Business Court enters its fourth year and beyond, Iowa’s businesses should feel secure in knowing that their local courts will work with them to meet their specific needs and obtain swift and fair civil justice.