Chief justice calls for business court

PORTLAND – Saying businesses are paying a steep price for slow-paced courts, Maine’s top judge said Wednesday he will ask for funding for additional judges for a special business docket.

Chief Justice Daniel Wathen said he is not prepared to go as far as other states that are experimenting with special business courts.

But he said he will ask the Legislature to create a special calendar with additional judges to reduce delay and expense and to increase the expertise and competency of judges handling business cases.

“Businesses can deal with anything except delay and uncertainty. Unfortunately, particularly in business matters, litigation takes too long and costs too much,” Wathen told the Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce.

Already, some counties have judges assigned to handle only civil cases, and that has helped to reduce delays. A similar model for business courts could involve a “modest investment of state funds,” he said.

He characterized the proposal as being of the utmost importance to businesses. “Our economic well-being is at stake,” he said.

On other subjects, Wathen said a two-year dispute resolution program was so successful that superior courts across the state will introduce mandatory alternative dispute resolution in January.

The bulk of civil lawsuits, including those involving businesses, would have to undergo the dispute resolution process. Those that could not be resolved would then proceed to trial, Wathen said.

Wathen acknowledged that not all lawyers are happy about the plan. “There’s a fair amount of controversy in the legal community,” he said.

All of those efforts are part of what Wathen characterized as a broad effort by the court system to better serve the community.

Juvenile drug courts were created last year and adult drug courts were introduced in March, he noted. Also, family courts were created in 1998 to handle divorces, child support, abuse and other matters.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court also recently amended rules for lawyers so clients need not take on full legal representation but can hire a lawyer for one stage of a proceeding. And some forms are now available over the Internet.

Next month, Wathen added, all court employees will devote an entire day to customer service training.

On patient rights, Wathen said 40 states already have patients’ rights laws and 10 of those states, including Maine, allow patients to sue for damages caused by delay or denial of care.

Since 1999, there have been 17 cases that have gone through the administrative appeal process in Maine. Claims are limited to compensatory damages and there is a $400,000 cap, excluding lost wages.

Legislation pending in Congress could diminish the rights of Mainers to sue health maintenance organizations, he said.

“As a nation, we need to ask ourselves whether the solution for spiraling health care costs is to immunize providers and ration justice and court access,” Wathen said.