By Melanie Deeds
Legal News
Macomb County Circuit Court Judge John C. Foster has been appointed chief judge of that bench as well as Macomb County Probate Court and, at the same time, has been selected to preside over the county’s “business court.”
Michigan Supreme Court justices elevated Foster to the chief judgeship in a unanimous vote that took effect April 3. Among those voting was Judge David Viviano, who had been serving as chief judge until late February when Gov. Rick Snyder named him to the high court to replace Diane Hathaway, who resigned.
Since Viviano’s move to Lansing, Foster had been serving as chief judge pro tem at circuit court along with overseeing the probate bench.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court last week gave Foster and 17 other judges across the state “business court” assignments. With this move, the court said, dockets specializing in business disputes will soon be ready to operate.
Public Act 333 of 2012 requires circuit courts with three or more judges to have “business courts” for business and commercial cases where the amount at stake is over $25,000; circuit courts with fewer judges may choose to have a business court docket.
Business court cases include those where all the parties are “business enterprises,” as well as disputes between a business and individuals connected with it, such as employees, directors, owners, or shareholders.
Some claims on behalf or against a nonprofit may also come before business courts, as can cases about corporate governance, finance, organization, and others.
Chief Justice Robert P. Young, Jr., said that business courts “complement Michigan judicial branch’s three-part reform plan: court performance, technology, efficiency — with the best possible service to the public as the goal.”
The business court act calls for electronic filing of legal documents “whenever possible,” as opposed to paper filings. At the same time, it encourages business courts to use telephone or video conferencing, and early use of alternative dispute resolution.
Business courts’ written opinions “shall be made available on an indexed website,” the act provides.
Young said the stress on technology and prompt resolution of disputes “is very much in the spirit of the reform plan for Michigan courts.”
“The focus, first and always, has to be on public service,” he said. “That is what we mean by the slogan we’ve adopted for our court reform plan; ‘Courts working smarter for a better Michigan.’”
The business court judges will serve terms expiring April 1, 2019. The business courts are scheduled to accept their first filings by July 1.
Among the other “business court” assignments, Judge Jeanne Stempien was selected in Wayne County Circuit Court and Judges James Alexander and Wendy Potts in Oakland County Circuit Court.
Macomb County has been operating a business court docket under a pilot program since late 2011, and Foster has been supervising that initiative.
Foster was appointed to the circuit court bench in 2006 by then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Prior to that, he served as a 41-B District Court judge for 15 years.
Regarding the vacancy on Macomb County Circuit Court created by Viviano’s departure, a spokesman for Snyder said applications were being accepted through April 18.
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