For decades, the largest commercial disputes in Texas were litigated in district courts where the docket included divorces, personal injury cases, criminal matters, and routine contract disputes alongside complex commercial cases. A $50 million corporate governance fight got the same procedural treatment as a $15,000 consumer claim, with judges who saw a major commercial matter once or twice a year. That changed on September 1, 2024, when the Texas Business Court took effect. The First Business Court Division sits in Dallas with jurisdiction over Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties, and the rules of the new forum are different in ways that materially affect litigation strategy. A Dallas business law attorney representing a client in a high-stakes commercial dispute now has to decide whether to file in or remove to the Business Court, and the choice has consequences worth thinking through carefully.
Here is what the Business Court actually is, what cases qualify, and what every Dallas business owner involved in commercial litigation should understand.
What the Business Court Is
The Texas Business Court is a statewide specialized trial court created under House Bill 19 in 2023 and codified at Texas Government Code Chapter 25A. It sits parallel to the district courts rather than replacing them, with concurrent jurisdiction over specific categories of business disputes that meet defined thresholds.
The court is organized into eleven geographic divisions corresponding to the existing administrative judicial regions, with five operational as of 2026: the First Division in Dallas, the Third Division in Austin, the Fourth Division in San Antonio, the Eighth Division in Fort Worth, and the Eleventh Division in Houston. The remaining six divisions are scheduled to become operational with judges appointed on or after January 1, 2026 under House Bill 40.
Business Court judges are appointed by the Governor for two-year terms, with statutory qualifications requiring at least ten years of experience as a practicing attorney, judge, or law professor in complex business litigation, business transactions, or related fields. Unlike district court judges, Business Court judges are required to issue written opinions, which over time will produce a developed body of Texas commercial law that practitioners can cite and rely on.
What Cases Qualify
The Business Court has concurrent jurisdiction with district courts in specific categories of cases when the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million, excluding interest, statutory damages, exemplary damages, penalties, attorney’s fees, and court costs.
The original September 2024 statute set the threshold at $10 million for most categories. House Bill 40, effective September 1, 2025, lowered the threshold to $5 million and expanded the subject matter jurisdiction.
Cases that qualify include:
- Derivative actions and shareholder disputes
- Actions involving corporate governance, internal affairs, and corporate documents
- State or federal securities law claims
- Actions against business owners in their official capacity
- Fiduciary duty claims
- Claims arising under the Texas Business Organizations Code
- “Qualified transaction” disputes involving transactions with aggregate value of $5 million or more
- Intellectual property and Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act claims
- Indemnification disputes
- Non-compete enforcement related to fundamental business transactions
- Arbitration agreement enforcement and arbitral award review
- Claims arising from publicly traded companies (no amount threshold)
Consumer transaction disputes are explicitly excluded under the 2025 amendments. The court also does not handle most personal injury, family law, criminal, probate, or routine contract disputes that fall below the threshold.
Supplemental jurisdiction allows the Business Court to hear related claims that form part of the same case or controversy, even where those claims would not independently meet the threshold.
How Cases Get to the Business Court
Two paths bring cases to the forum.
Direct filing. A plaintiff with a qualifying case can file directly in the appropriate Business Court Division based on venue rules. The First Division in Dallas serves Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties.
Removal from district court. A defendant in a qualifying case originally filed in district court can remove the case to the Business Court within statutory timelines. Removal practice in the Business Court has its own procedural rules under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 354, which differ from federal removal practice in important respects.
Cases that should not have been removed get transferred back to district court or to the appropriate Business Court Division. Cases incorrectly filed in the Business Court face dismissal or transfer if challenged.
What a Dallas Business Law Attorney Considers Before Filing or Removing
The choice between district court and the Business Court is a strategic one, and several factors shape the analysis.
Specialized commercial judges. Business Court judges have backgrounds in complex business matters and handle a docket consisting entirely of commercial cases. The quality of judicial decision-making on a fiduciary duty claim or a complex corporate governance matter is materially different in a court that sees those issues every week.
Written opinions and predictability. The requirement that Business Court judges issue written opinions creates a developing body of Texas commercial law that practitioners can rely on. As of February 2026, the Business Court had issued roughly 70 opinions, with Judge Whitehill in the First Division (Dallas) authoring more than any other judge.
Faster case management. The Business Court Local Rules of Administration set time standards, including a target of ruling within three months of hearing or submission. The Local Rules also include streamlined discovery dispute procedures, mandatory mediation through a “Mediation Wheel,” and corporate disclosure requirements designed to flag conflicts early.
Bench exchanges across divisions. Business Court judges can sit by designation across divisions, which spreads expertise and helps balance dockets. A complex case filed in Dallas might be heard by a judge from Houston or San Antonio depending on availability and subject matter.
Appellate path. Appeals from the Business Court go to the Fifteenth Court of Appeals, which has exclusive appellate jurisdiction over Business Court orders and judgments under the 2025 amendments. The Fifteenth Court is itself a specialized appellate court for State and commercial cases, which means commercial appeals are heard by panels with developed commercial law expertise.
The factors cutting against the Business Court are also worth weighing. Jury pool differences exist between counties within a division, and venue strategy that mattered in district court still matters in the Business Court. The newness of the forum means that procedural questions are still being worked out through opinions, and counsel needs to track the evolving local rules. Pleading practice in the Business Court demands greater specificity to establish jurisdictional eligibility, which adds drafting time at the front end.
Local Rules and 2026 Updates
The Business Court adopted Local Rules effective March 1, 2025, with updated Local Rules effective January 15, 2026 and Local Rules of Administration effective December 1, 2025.
Notable provisions include:
- AI use guidelines requiring disclosure when generative AI is used in pleadings
- Mandatory corporate disclosure requirements identifying parent entities and significant shareholders
- Streamlined discovery dispute procedures requiring meet-and-confer before motions
- Cross-division reassignment mechanisms for docket equalization
- Specific time standards for rulings on submitted matters
Counsel familiar with district court local rules in Dallas, Tarrant, Harris, Travis, or Bexar counties cannot assume the same procedures apply in the Business Court. The differences are material enough that practitioners new to the forum routinely encounter procedural traps in their first cases.
When the Business Court Is the Right Forum
Several patterns of disputes are particularly well-suited to the Business Court.
Corporate governance disputes between members, partners, or shareholders, including derivative actions and breach of fiduciary duty claims, fit the court’s specialized expertise.
High-value commercial transaction disputes involving complex agreements like asset purchase agreements, merger agreements, and joint venture agreements benefit from judges who routinely interpret similar documents.
IP and trade secrets disputes under the expanded 2025 jurisdiction get specialized treatment that district courts often cannot match.
Disputes involving publicly traded companies fall within Business Court jurisdiction without regard to amount in controversy, which makes the forum the default for almost any litigation involving a public company in Texas.
When to Bring in a Dallas Business Law Attorney
Strategic decisions about whether to file in or remove to the Business Court, how to plead jurisdictional eligibility, and how to navigate the local rules require familiarity with both the new forum and the existing district court practice it operates alongside. A Dallas business law attorney who tracks the Business Court’s developing case law and procedural rules can position commercial disputes for the most favorable forum and the most efficient resolution.
The Mundaca Law Firm advises Dallas businesses on commercial disputes, business litigation, and the broader business law issues that surface alongside them. If you are facing a commercial matter that may qualify for the Business Court, an early conversation about forum strategy is materially less expensive than discovering after filing that the dispute belongs somewhere else.
