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Nevada Supreme Court Creates Commission on Business Courts
Adam Hosmer-Henner is one of 23 members of the newly created Commission to Study the Adjudication of Business Law Cases. In a May 22, 2025 press release (here) from the Administrative Office of the Courts, Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Douglas Herndon announced plans to pursue a dedicated business court where sitting district court judges would be exclusively assigned to adjudicate business law cases, including those involving shareholder rights, mergers and acquisitions, fiduciary duties, and other commercial or contractual disputes. As explained on the Commission’s website (here), the “concept for the Commission stems from the need to create a more effective and efficient business court system where complex business law cases are assigned to departments having dedicated business court caseloads and judges who have been properly vetted before presiding over these cases.”
The Commission’s mandate includes promulgating rules for the business court program, identifying and creating a process to certify eligible judges for the business court, deciding how eligible judges will be chosen and how their opinions will be disseminated, among other matters. Co-chaired by the Honorable Douglas Herndon and the Honorable Lidia Stiglich, the Commission includes members of the Nevada Legislature, the Governor’s office, judges from district courts, attorneys who specifically practice in the area of business law, representatives of the broader business community, and other members of the State Bar of Nevada. Commission meeting agendas, recordings and documents are available here.
On July 31, 2025, Douglas W. Herndon, Chief Justice, and Lidia S. Stiglich, Associate Justice, of the Nevada Supreme Court, filed a petition in ADKT 0626 to create a Commission to Study the Adjudication of Business Law Cases, including proposed Supreme Court Rule (SCR) 254 relating to business court proceedings. The proposed rules define the scope and procedures for resolving business cases and mandate the selection of district court judges, experienced in all aspects of business law, to be dedicated solely to the adjudication of business law matters as defined in the proposed rules. The petition also requests that the court authorize the chief justice to appoint members to the commission as set forth in Exhibit B.
On September 24, 2025, the Nevada Supreme Court issued an order “Creating a Commission to Study the Adjudication of Business Law Cases and Appointment of Commission Members.” The order requires the Commission to file a report with the court on its findings and recommendations no later than nine months from the date of the order.
“We currently have tremendous district judges working very hard on our state’s business law cases and we want to find ways to better support them. We have been closely following the discussion related to Assembly Joint Resolution 8 in the Nevada Legislature and compliment the Legislature for focusing on the desire to greatly improve how the courts resolve complex business matters,” Chief Justice Herndon said. “To that end, I’m confident that within our own court system we can enhance our existing approach to business law cases and create a dedicated court where district court judges hear only business cases and do it without any additional fiscal impact on the state. In addition, we can address the timeliness and efficiency of judicial review of business cases, eliminate the need to amend the constitution and the uncertainty associated with waiting years to see if the resolution gets approved.”
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