With the Texas Business Court officially starting this September, Bracewell’s Brad Benoit discussed with Law360 some potential wrinkles to handling oil and gas cases in the new courts.
Only five of the Texas judicial regions are hearing cases, which means that many of the state’s major oil and gas production regions, most notably the Permian Basin, may not have a local business court.
“That isn’t to say disputes connected to the Permian can’t be brought in the business court,” said Benoit. “It’s just something to note. It’s not like the Fort Worth business court is going to automatically pick up every Permian case.”
Benoit is watching the litigation surrounding the business court’s ability to operate.
“Until those get sorted out, there will be a cloud of uncertainty,” Benoit added. “If you proceed in the business courts and it’s determined that the courts are unconstitutional, you’ve litigated all of this time … and all of it is a nullity.”
