Senate Bill sb2692

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
    Florida Senate - 2007                                  SB 2692

    By Senator Aronberg





    27-1364A-07                                        See HB 1167

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to pilot programs for

  3         specialized dispute resolution divisions;

  4         providing legislative findings relating to

  5         pilot programs of courts establishing

  6         specialized divisions for adjudication and

  7         resolution of complex business, corporate, and

  8         commercial disputes; providing an

  9         appropriation; providing for allocation of the

10         appropriation to certain judicial circuits for

11         certain purposes; providing an effective date.

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13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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15         Section 1.  Pilot programs for adjudication and

16  resolution of complex business, corporate, and commercial

17  disputes.--The Legislature finds that:

18         (1)  Complex business, corporate, and commercial

19  disputes have tended to remain in the court system for

20  extended periods of time, which has resulted in substantial

21  costs to the litigants and to the court system as a whole and

22  has caused delays in the resolution of these and other types

23  of cases.

24         (2)  Pilot programs establishing specialized divisions

25  or sections of the circuit courts to process, manage, and

26  adjudicate cases involving complex business, corporate, and

27  commercial disputes have been established in January 2004 in

28  the Ninth Judicial Circuit and in January 2007 in the Eleventh

29  and Thirteenth Judicial Circuits through administrative orders

30  entered by the chief judges in those circuits. The types of

31  cases which have been referred to those courts have included

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    Florida Senate - 2007                                  SB 2692
    27-1364A-07                                        See HB 1167




 1  non-consumer actions under the Uniform Commercial Code;

 2  actions relating to internal affairs or governance between or

 3  among shareholders, partners, or members of business entities;

 4  purchases and sales of businesses or the assets of businesses;

 5  franchisor-franchisee relationships; actions relating to trade

 6  secrets or non-compete agreements; actions relating to

 7  business torts, intellectual property, antitrust, director and

 8  officer liability; shareholder derivative actions; and other

 9  actions of a complex commercial nature.

10         (3)  A high degree of case management is required to

11  efficiently and expeditiously handle, process, and resolve

12  these types of cases, including the handling of discovery

13  disputes and motion practice, which necessitates the use of

14  more court resources, including law clerks, case managers,

15  special masters, and technological resources.

16         (4)  Requiring the diversion of resources and funds

17  from other court programs to these specialized circuit court

18  divisions or sections to allow them to efficiently and

19  expeditiously handle these types of cases would not serve the

20  public interest.

21         Section 2.  The sum of $          in nonrecurring funds

22  is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the circuit

23  courts in the Ninth, Eleventh, and Thirteenth Judicial

24  Circuits for the 2007-2008 fiscal year to be used to hire law

25  clerks, case managers, and special masters and provide

26  technological resources to assist in operating the pilot

27  programs as established through administrative orders by the

28  chief judges in those circuits. The appropriation shall be

29  allocated as follows: $          to the Ninth Judicial

30  Circuit; $          to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit; and

31  $          to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit.

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    Florida Senate - 2007                                  SB 2692
    27-1364A-07                                        See HB 1167




 1         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.