Act No. 101

Public Acts of 2017

Approved by the Governor

July 13, 2017

Filed with the Secretary of State

July 13, 2017

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 11, 2017

STATE OF MICHIGAN

99TH LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2017

Introduced by Senators Jones, Knollenberg and Bieda

ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 333

AN ACT to amend 1961 PA 236, entitled “An act to revise and consolidate the statutes relating to the organization and jurisdiction of the courts of this state; the powers and duties of the courts, and of the judges and other officers of the courts; the forms and attributes of civil claims and actions; the time within which civil actions and proceedings may be brought in the courts; pleading, evidence, practice, and procedure in civil and criminal actions and proceedings in the courts; to provide for the powers and duties of certain state governmental officers and entities; to provide remedies and penalties for the violation of certain provisions of this act; to repeal all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with or contravening any of the provisions of this act; and to repeal acts and parts of acts,” by amending sections 8031 and 8035 (MCL 600.8031 and 600.8035), as added by 2012 PA 333.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 8031. (1) As used in this section to section 8047:

(a) “Business court” means a special docket as described and organized under section 8033 and administered as provided in this section to section 8047.

(b) “Business enterprise” means a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, for-profit or not-for-profit corporation or professional corporation, business trust, real estate investment trust, or any other entity in which a business may lawfully be conducted in the jurisdiction in which the business is being conducted. Business enterprise does not include an ecclesiastical or religious organization.

(c) “Business or commercial dispute” means any of the following:

(i) An action in which all of the parties are business enterprises, unless the only claims asserted are expressly excluded under subsection (3).

(ii) An action in which 1 or more of the parties is a business enterprise and the other parties are its or their present or former owners, managers, shareholders, members of a limited liability company or a similar business organization, directors, officers, agents, employees, suppliers, guarantors of a commercial loan, or competitors, and the claims arise out of those relationships.

(iii) An action in which 1 of the parties is a nonprofit organization, and the claims arise out of that party’s organizational structure, governance, or finances.

(2) Business or commercial disputes include, but are not limited to, the following types of actions:

(a) Those involving the sale, merger, purchase, combination, dissolution, liquidation, organizational structure, governance, or finances of a business enterprise.

(b) Those involving information technology, software, or website development, maintenance, or hosting.

(c) Those involving the internal organization of business entities and the rights or obligations of shareholders, partners, members, owners, officers, directors, or managers.

(d) Those arising out of contractual agreements or other business dealings, including licensing, trade secret, intellectual property, antitrust, securities, noncompete, nonsolicitation, and confidentiality agreements if all available administrative remedies are completely exhausted, including, but not limited to, alternative dispute resolution processes prescribed in the agreements.

(e) Those arising out of commercial transactions, including commercial bank transactions.

(f) Those arising out of business or commercial insurance policies.

(g) Those involving commercial real property.

(3) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), business or commercial disputes expressly exclude the following types of actions:

(a) Personal injury actions including, but not limited to, wrongful death and malpractice actions.

(b) Product liability actions in which any claimant is an individual.

(c) Matters within the jurisdiction of the family division of circuit court.

(d) Proceedings under the probate code of 1939, 1939 PA 288, MCL 710.21 to 712B.41.

(e) Proceedings under the estates and protected individuals code, 1998 PA 386, MCL 700.1101 to 700.8206.

(f) Criminal matters.

(g) Condemnation matters.

(h) Appeals from lower courts or any administrative agency.

(i) Proceedings to enforce judgments of any kind, including supplementary hearings.

(j) Landlord-tenant matters involving only residential property.

(k) Land contract, mortgage, construction, and condominium lien foreclosure matters and actions involving the enforcement of condominium and homeowners associations governing documents.

(l) Motor vehicle insurance coverage under the insurance code of 1956, 1956 PA 218, MCL 500.100 to 500.8302.

(m) Insurance coverage disputes in which an insured or an alleged insured is an individual consumer.

(n) Employment discrimination.

(o) Civil rights including, but not limited to, an action brought under any of the following:

(i) The Elliott-Larsen civil rights act, 1976 PA 453, MCL 37.2101 to 37.2804.

(ii) The persons with disabilities civil rights act, 1976 PA 220, MCL 37.1101 to 37.1607.

(iii) Chapter XXI of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.146 to 750.148.

(p) Wrongful discharge, except for actions involving corporate officers or directors.

(q) Worker’s compensation claims under the worker’s disability compensation act, 1969 PA 317, MCL 418.101 to 418.941.

Sec. 8035. (1) A business court has jurisdiction over business and commercial disputes in which equitable or declaratory relief is sought or in which the matter otherwise meets circuit court jurisdictional requirements.

(2) Venue of a suit in the business court is as provided in chapter 16.

(3) An action must be assigned to a business court if all or part of the action includes a business or commercial dispute. An action that involves a business or commercial dispute that is filed in a court with a business docket must be maintained in a business court although it also involves claims that are not business or commercial disputes, including excluded claims under section 8031(3).

(4) An action must be assigned to a business court judge by blind draw, unless the jurisdiction and venue of the case lies in a county described in section 8033(2).

(5) An action assigned to a business court judge may be reassigned by blind draw to another judge as prescribed by the plan submitted under section 8033(1) or (2), as applicable, if the action ceases to include a business or commercial dispute.

(6) An action that does not initially include a business or commercial dispute but that subsequently includes a business or commercial dispute as a result of a cross-claim, counterclaim, third-party complaint, amendment, or any other modification of the action must be reassigned by blind draw to a business court after the action is modified to include a business or commercial dispute as prescribed by the plan submitted under section 8033(1) or (2), as applicable.

(7) Upon motion of a party, the chief judge of the judicial circuit may review assignments under subsections (3), (5), and (6). The ruling of the chief judge under this subsection is not an order that may be appealed under section 308.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days after the date it is enacted into law.

Enacting section 2. This amendatory act applies to actions commenced on or after the effective date of this amendatory act.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Secretary of the Senate

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Approved

Governor