71 The Alabama Lawyer 56 (2010). Creation of Commercial Litigation Docket in the Birmingham Division, Tenth Judicial Circuit.

• Author: By Presiding Judge J. Scott Vowell

Alabama Lawyer

2010.

71 The Alabama Lawyer 56 (2010).

Creation of Commercial Litigation Docket in the Birmingham Division, Tenth Judicial Circuit

Creation of Commercial Litigation Docket in the Birmingham Division, Tenth Judicial CircuitBy Presiding Judge J. Scott VowellFor many years, our Birmingham circuit judges have been assigned to specific divisions of the court due to the volume of litigation filed in Birmingham. We now have 11 circuit judges in the Civil Division, nine in the Criminal Division, three in Domestic Relations and one in Family Court. With this degree of specialization, a judicial candidate may select a judgeship that is assigned to the area of the law in which the candidate has expertise. When the judge achieves the judgeship, he/she will have the opportunity to develop the special skills needed to handle the type of case to which he/she is assigned. We have found that this system serves us well.

In Birmingham, we have further specialized our court system in establishing "Problem Solving Courts" or "Remediation Courts." The concept of these courts is that the traditional adversarial system is not the best method of dealing with some of modern American society's major problems: drug use, domestic violence and mental health. In these courts, we use specialists to address the root cause of the defendant's legal problem. These courts provide alternatives to incarceration and reduce recidivism. Special skills are required of the judges in these courts.

Another trend in the American legal system is the establishment of specialized, commercial civil dockets to help expedite cases arising out of business disputes and other complex litigation. These dockets have been especially useful in metropolitan areas, such as ours, where business litigation is most prevalent.

Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb asked me to consider the feasi-bility of creating a Business Court in Alabama. I appointed an ad hoc committee, which included Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert Vance, retired Supreme Court Justice Ralph Cook, retired Circuit Judge Tennant Smallwood, corporate lit-igation attorney Drew Sinor, and Alabama Gas Corporation President Dudley Reynolds.

The committee obtained and considered a great deal of information dealing with the formation of a Business Court. The committee submitted a report to the chief justice...