Interesting story from WSJ Law Blog. It seems NY is tired of losing cases to Delaware, California, and Texas.

“We must seek to create an even more hospitable environment for business,” said Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman Tuesday in his annual address on the state of the judiciary. The judge said he wants to “set a new vision for how we in the New York State court system might better serve the needs of the business community.”

The Commercial Division, New York’s business court, was carved out of  the state Supreme Court 17 years ago, with an eye toward improving the quality and consistency of judicial decision-making in commercial litigation. Judge Lippman noted that other states had used New York’s business court as model, increasing the competition for cases.

“We must ask ourselves anew whether business leaders in New York and around the country know they can rely on our courts for the most efficient and expert resolution of business disputes,” he said.

Competition for forum shopping! So making an environment more hospitable to businesses–does this include pro-business opinions. Oh lord can you imagine if Chief Justice Roberts said this?

This reminds me of England. There used to be the courts of equity (run by the King) and the common law courts. Each would compete against each other to try to attract business.