A recent commentary published by the Ideas Lab criticized the commercial court pilot project implemented by the Wisconsin Supreme Court five years ago. This pilot project operates in several regions of the state and offers streamlined procedures for legal disputes between business litigants to get results economically and more expeditiously than generally occurs.
This program emulates similar processes established in about 30 other states, including every state bordering Wisconsin.
In his commentary, former Dane County Judge Richard Niess falsely claims that the pilot project was created by “big business” in secret consultation with the chief justice so that "big business" could hand pick the judges in commercial disputes. He also claims that the rules were written to favor business over others and that business court judges are required to take special training from a “right wing” law school.
Finally — and most incredibly — he claims that this all occurred secretly and that the court is somehow "shadowy."
The "business court” was created specifically and exclusively to handle disputes between businesses. Contrary to the claim that this was created secretly, the Pilot Project Steering Committee was appointed by the chief justice to study the merits of adopting such a program in Wisconsin. The committee, composed of lawyers and judges from across the state, met over several months and determined that it would be in the best interest of the people of Wisconsin to attempt to...
A front-page article with the byline of veteran New York Times opinion writer Nicholas Kristof is the latest poisonous example of what I call the NGO “halo effect.” Headlined “The Silence That Mee...