Georgia’s State-wide Business Court began accepting filings five years ago—on August 1, 2020. To mark the Court’s fifth anniversary, the Honorable William “Bill” Grady Hamrick, III, his Senior Staff Attorney, E. Lynette Jimenez, and Law Clerks Morgan Pace and Christian Sullivan spoke with JC/AOC staffer, JoAnna P. Deering, to reflect on the Court’s progress over the past five years.
Edited and condensed for clarity.
JoAnna Deering: Congratulations on the Court’s fifth anniversary! Over the past five years, what are some key milestones or accomplishments you believe the Court has achieved?
Judge Hamrick: We keep statistics on our accomplishments which can be accessed here. A significant milestone was receiving our 100th case early last spring. Because the Court has limited jurisdiction, getting to 100 cases was a big deal, and now we’re up to 124. The excitement of seeing the cases come in and the numbers growing regularly at a good pace is the biggest thing I’ve been excited about over the last year as we approached our fifth-year anniversary.
JoAnna Deering: That is exciting! As a trial-level court with statewide jurisdiction, the Georgia State-wide Business Court is a unique forum for the adjudication of business disputes. Litigants are both large and small businesses and the gamut of cases varies in complexity. Can you tell me about some of the more novel issues you have adjudicated?
Lynette Jimenez: I think what’s interesting is that, although there are similarities in the types of claims that are presented, they involve a broad range of industries that span the State. Obviously, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty claims are often asserted, that kind of thing, but the unique factual circumstances in each case keeps things interesting. We’ve had several business divorce cases where companies are dissolving because of an internal dispute, but the industries involved are very different—everything from a metro-Atlanta neurosurgery practice, to a Carrollton law practice, to a plumbing company in Middle Georgia. Even though similar types of claims are being asserted, we see different factual scenarios and industries involved. One that stands out to me is a case we had involving a shrimp boat stuck on a sand bar, off the Georgia coast. When you talk about a novel case, that is the first one that comes to mind.
JoAnna Deering: Now what was that about?
Lynette Jimenez: The operator of the shrimp trawler had hired a company to extricate the boat from the sandbar, but that did not happen, and the boat was ultimately lost. Issues to be resolved included determining the at-fault party, whether there was a contract, the substance of the contract, and whether there was a breach of contract. After some initial motions, the parties ended up settling the case. It’s part of what happens with this work. We’re trying to resolve as much as we can—usually there’s a big-ticket item, a key issue that we’re attempting to resolve that moves the case forward and helps the parties qualify and quantify their claims. At the end of the day, businesses operate to earn profits, not lose money. We try to get them back to business by efficiently addressing the legal issues and helping them get over the hurdles to a resolution of the case.
JoAnna Deering: I guess you must have to get up to speed quickly on a lot of different types of industries.
Judge Hamrick: Yes, that is very true. We become familiar with each type of business, and we get a wide range, including neurosurgery practices, the shrimp trawling company, and kaolin suppliers down in South Georgia, to name a few. We learn a little bit along the way and now know more about the kaolin industry than we did before.
JoAnna Deering: Are you seeing any shifts in types of cases because of technology like AI?
Judge Hamrick: I don’t believe we’ve had any AI cases, but we’ve certainly seen the impact of AI. We talked about it this morning regarding one of our cases where we have a strong suspicion that a brief was generated by AI. I think we’re going to be dealing with that on a regular basis.
JoAnna Deering: Georgia was among a handful of states to create a specialized business court. How has the Georgia State-wide Business Court impacted Georgia and helped in making it attractive to businesses and investors?
Judge Hamrick: We hope that the fundamental work we do creates an attractive environment for businesses faced with a decision to remain in or move to Georgia. I believe that there are at least 25 states that have business courts, and probably most of the states around Georgia now have them. North Carolina has an impressive business court. If a business is considering moving to Georgia or a state adjacent to us, having a specialized business court puts us on a level playing field. Our impact is reflected in the statistics we track. We’ve had over a billion dollars in claims that have been resolved or are in the process of being resolved. The goal is to obtain a resolution to a dispute, whether it be by trial or settlement, and we track the number of days to bring a case to resolution. We track the number of hearings we hold and hope that all that data provides an indication of what impact we’re having on actual businesses that litigate in our forum.
Lynette Jimenez: In terms of viewing court proceedings, others are tuning in and watching. We livestream and record hearings and trials. We then track views through the analytics obtained from our service provider. Currently, we have over 16,000 views of court proceedings and over 13,000 hours of online viewing. That shows that members of the business community, attorneys that specialize in business litigation, and other interested stakeholders are paying attention to how we handle different complicated issues. This helps them with their own cases and is part of the reason why the Court was created.
JoAnna Deering: Your Honor, what has been most rewarding to you personally about leading the Court?
Judge Hamrick: Working with Lynette, our term clerks, and interns provides me with a great deal of satisfaction. Our current term clerks, Morgan Pace and Christian Sullivan, and our interns each semester really bring a lot to the table, literally, when we meet to discuss our caseload. They’re doing a lot of hard work, and I’m asking a lot of them because the Court is a new one, and we want to perform at a very high level. That involves getting timely decisions out and really researching and trying to make sure that the ruling in every case is correct. Our personal interaction during meetings is probably what I enjoy the most. I consider my biggest personal achievement to be holding the team together and maintaining stability so that those appearing before the Court encounter the same process, and we have repeat business. Keeping everything together has been my priority.
JoAnna Deering: What do you hope the Court will look like five years from now on the Court’s tenth anniversary?
Judge Hamrick: I hope that in five years the Court resembles the North Carolina Business Court. When the Legislature and the commission that set up the Court performed their initial research, the North Carolina Business Court was cited as both an example and a goal. Probably the most admired business court over the course of history has been the Delaware Court of Chancery, but since it has been in existence since 1792, it’s hard to compare a new court to such a venerable institution. The North Carolina Business Court, however, is not that old and it’s right next door. It started with one judge and now has six judges in different parts of the state. Georgia is large enough to have judges in other locations—Savannah, Columbus, and other bigger areas, and if we eventually get to that point with more judges spread out across Georgia, I think that would reflect success at the level achieved by North Carolina. I believe it is an achievable goal.
Lynette Jimenez: I hope that our internship and clerkship programs continue to grow. This summer we welcomed our 15th class of interns. We’ve had 62 thus far, we’re going to host another four this fall, and we’re in our fifth class of law clerks.
JoAnna Deering: Is there anything else you’d like to share with the readers of the Georgia Courts Journal?
Judge Hamrick: This Court embraces cutting edge technology—we have hearings via Zoom. If an attorney has an office in, say, Glynn County or Savannah, instead of traveling to Atlanta, the hearings and conferences can be conducted via Zoom, and I think that is a big advantage. Of course, most courts now do that, but because of our statewide jurisdiction, we may do a little more of it and can easily accommodate cases that are geographically spread out across Georgia.
Law Clerk Christian Sullivan: I would add that we are open for business, and we want your hardest, biggest problems—those cases that won’t end, those long-winded, tangled messes, and we’re here to provide a swift resolution to untie those knots and cut those cords as expeditiously and efficiently as possible.
Lynette Jimenez: We strive to serve Georgians and our business communities in everything that we do. We enjoy doing meet-and-greet events and welcoming people to the Business Court. We feel that it’s important to educate the public, attorneys, and law students about the Court. Everyone knows about the Superior and State Courts and our appellate courts. Those courts don’t need any marketing. We, however, are a new type of court and need to continue to educate the public about the fact that we exist and can handle complex business disputes.
Judge Hamrick: Attorneys are encouraged to work together probably more so than in other courts because they must collaborate and partner with the Court for purposes of tailoring a plan for the scheduling and pace of the litigation. They must talk to each other and work together on resolving discovery disputes, and we do involve ourselves in that a good bit. There is a lot of collaboration on scheduling and active case management to make that happen.
Lynette Jimenez: It’s also important to note that a lot of collaboration takes place with other judicial partners to move cases forward that are intricate and complex. With each new case from a different jurisdiction, we establish new relationships, become acquainted with the local courts, and educate stakeholders about the Business Court. Forging relationships is a great part of this job.
