BY Representative Morgan Meyer
This blog is intended for lawyers, executives, and in-house counsel seeking a clearer understanding of how the Texas Business Courts operate, how they are taking shape, and how their decisions affect the contours of predictability in business disputes in the State of Texas.
This blog will track the development of the Texas Business Courts and examine their impact on business litigation, including jurisdictional and procedural issues, early cases and emerging trends, and legislative developments affecting the Business Courts’ scope
Our goal is straightforward: to provide a clear, practical analysis of the Business Court system that is shaping the future of both Texas business growth and business litigation in Texas.
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE TEXAS BUSINESS COURTS
Over the past few decades, Texas has become a destination for small and big corporations alike. Since 2020 alone, approximately 200 large corporations have relocated their headquarters to Texas. More recently, the New York Stock Exchange decided to open a branch in Dallas, and Texas announced the creation of the Texas Stock Exchange – developments that have earned the nickname “Y’all Street.”
With that economic growth comes an increased need for a specialized court system equipped to handle complex commercial disputes consistently, efficiently, and fairly. In 2023, I jointly authored House Bill 19[1], a bi-partisan effort that created the Texas Business Courts to address precisely those complex commercial disputes in a fair, consistent, and expedited manner. Two years later, in 2025, I jointly authored House Bill 40[2], which expanded the Business Court’s subject matter jurisdiction and reduced the amount in controversy threshold. Together, these measures represent a significant evolution in Texas’s judicial system – one designed to better align the courts with the realities of complex business litigation and Texas’s growing economy[3].
As an author of the legislation that created the Texas Business Courts, I am proud of the measured approach behind its design. The courts were structured to promote consistency, draw on judicial experience, and provide practical case management in disputes involving sophisticated commercial issues.
WHY THE BUSINESS COURTS?
Complex commercial disputes require significant judicial resources, in particular in “bet the business” litigation, or disputes that involve developing areas of the law, for example courts around the nation are now grappling with multiple generative AI issues. The Texas Business Court system was created to meet that need by concentrating significant business cases in a specialized forum, promoting:
Consistency in outcomes as laws involving business disputes evolve and are affected by both federal and state legislative changes
Efficiencies created in case management through specialization concerning large, complex disputes
Development of the law based on years of commercial experience with a focus on ensuring predictability for all parties wishing to take advantage of the economic engine that is the State of Texas
For businesses and their counsel, this means clearer risk assessment, improved predictability, and a forum well-suited to resolve high-stakes disputes.
ABOUT WICK PHILLIPS
Wick Phillips is a full-service business law firm serving clients across Texas and the United States. Founded in 2004, the firm has grown to over 100 attorneys, specializing in all areas of business law—complex commercial litigation and appeals, corporate transactions, labor and employment, real estate, intellectual property, bankruptcy, insurance coverage, tax, and securities—with offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin.
[1] Tex. H.B. 19, 88th Leg., R.S. (2023) (https://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/BillSummary.aspx?LegSess=88R&Bill=HB19)
[2] Tex. H.B. 40, 89th Leg., R.S. (2025) (https://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/BillSummary.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB40)
[3] See Governor Abbot Swears in Texas Business Court Judges in Fort Worth, Office of the Tex. Governor (Sept. 19, 2024) (https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-swears-in-texas-business-court-judges-in-fort-worth) (last visited Mar. 9, 2026); see also New Business Courts Are Cementing Texas’ Position as the Best State for Business, Tex. Ass’n of Bus. (Oct. 25, 2024), https://www.txbiz.org/2024/10/25/new-business-courts-are-cementing-texas-position-as-the-best-state-for-business/ (last visited Mar. 9, 2026); see also Texans for Lawsuit Reform, TLR Welcomes Passage of Bipartisan Legislation Enhancing the Texas Business Court (June 2, 2025), https://www.tortreform.com/press-release/tlr-welcomes-passage-of-bipartisan-legislation-enhancing-texas-business-court/.
View PDF
