Steptoe & Johnson to host webcast to help understand new Business Court

CHARLESTON – Steptoe & Johnson is hosting a webcast Oct. 11 that will present information about West Virginia’s Business Court division that is to begin next week.

The webcast, titled “Navigating the Uncharted Waters of the New Business Court Division,” is being presented by Steptoe & Johnson attorneys Russell D. Jessee and Deva Solomon.

Jessee said the webcast is designed to answer as many questions about the business court as possible.

“People are asking, ‘What is this?’ and ‘What will it be like?,’ and we feel we have some insight on that,” Jessee said. “We participated in the September 2011 Rule Development meeting and we have had input into the proposed rules and followed the business court’s development for more than a year.”

Solomon said they are hoping the participants will gain a better understanding of what the Business Court division is.

“We hope the participants will be able to gain knowledge of what sorts of cases are eligible for the court and what advantages it will offer to businesses,” Solomon said. “It’ll be exciting to see how the Business Court division unfolds.”

Jessee said the webcast is slated to last one hour and will have a question and answer session at the end.

“We’re shooting for 20 to 40 minutes of presentation and the rest will be answering questions,” Jessee said. “We want to help make the addition of the business court and what that means clear for everyone”

The new Business Court division will begin Oct. 10 and will handle disputes between businesses. The procedures for the Business Court division are entirely new and some aspects remain to be developed.

“We want to help make the addition of the business court and what that means clear for everyone,” Jessee said. “It presents a lot of opportunity for business vs. business and it’s a good development for businesses.”

The webcast will address what the business court is; what types of cases are suited to resolution by the Business Court division and what types of cases are excluded; why a business may want its case transferred to the division; and what is involved in transferring a case to the division.

Brent Aikman, the marketing manager of Steptoe & Johnson, said the firm estimates there will be at least 50 attendees for the webcast, and most likely more as the day of the webcast approaches.

The webcast will be held from 12 p.m. until 1 p.m. on Oct. 11. For more information about how to register for the webcast, visit www.steptoe-johnson.com.