You have a contract dispute worth several million dollars. The other side isn’t budging. You’re weighing your options — and wondering whether Texas courts are really equipped to handle a fight this complex. A generalist district court judge, a crowded docket, and the prospect of years of litigation are not an encouraging combination.
Here’s the good news: Texas has been quietly building an answer to exactly that problem. The Texas Business Court, a specialized court created to handle high-stakes commercial disputes, just became significantly more accessible to Texas businesses. Thanks to House Bill 40 — signed by Governor Abbott and effective September 1, 2025 — the court’s jurisdictional threshold dropped from $10 million to $5 million. If you’re a business owner, CEO, or CFO with substantial commercial interests in Texas, this change is worth understanding.
What Is the Texas Business Court?
The Texas Business Court was established in 2023 and began operating in September 2024. It was designed from the ground up for one purpose: resolving complex commercial disputes with speed, consistency, and expertise. Texas modeled it in part on Delaware’s Court of Chancery, the gold standard for business litigation in the United States.
Business Court judges are appointed based on heightened commercial law qualifications. They carry lighter dockets than district court judges. They are required to issue written opinions when ruling on dispositive motions or questions of significant importance to Texas jurisprudence — which creates a growing body of predictable precedent. Appeals go directly to the Fifteenth Court of Appeals, a newly created intermediate court with exclusive jurisdiction over Business Court cases.
The result is a forum that looks and feels much more like federal court than a typical Texas state court — with faster resolution, more rigorous procedure, and judges who have spent their careers thinking about exactly the kinds of problems your dispute involves.
What Changed Under HB 40?
When the Business Court first launched, it had a $10 million minimum threshold for most cases. That was a deliberate choice — Texas wanted to start the court cautiously and limit its initial caseload. But it also meant that a large swath of significant commercial disputes simply didn’t qualify.
HB 40 changed that in several important ways:
1. The Threshold Drops to $5 Million
The amount-in-controversy requirement for most commercial claims is now $5 million, effective September 1, 2025. That’s a 50% reduction from the prior $10 million threshold, and it opens the court to a much broader range of business disputes — contract breaches, partnership breakdowns, vendor failures, real estate transactions gone wrong, and more. Equally important, HB 40 clarifies that parties can aggregate a series of related transactions to reach the $5 million threshold, meaning that a chain of connected contracts or deals can be considered together rather than individually.
2. Expanded Subject Matter Jurisdiction
HB 40 also significantly expanded the types of cases the Business Court can hear. The court now has explicit jurisdiction over:
- Intellectual property disputes — including trademarks, copyrights, and trade secret claims under the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act
- Data security and technology contract disputes — software licensing conflicts, data breach liability, and related issues
- Arbitration enforcement — actions to enforce arbitration agreements, appoint arbitrators, or confirm, vacate, or modify arbitral awards (provided the underlying dispute would otherwise qualify)
- Texas Finance Code and Business & Commerce Code violations — claims involving alleged violations by organizations, their officers, or governing persons
One notable limitation: the Business Court will not hear state or federal consumer claims, even if they arise from the same transaction as an otherwise qualifying commercial dispute. This keeps the court focused on business-to-business conflicts and out of consumer class action territory.
3. Where the Court Operates
The Business Court currently operates in five divisions covering the state’s major commercial centers:
- First Division — Dallas County
- Third Division — Travis County (Austin)
- Fourth Division — Bexar County (San Antonio)
- Eighth Division — Tarrant County (Fort Worth)
- Eleventh Division — Harris County (Houston)
Together, these divisions give Texas businesses access to the Business Court across all of the state’s major economic corridors.
What Does This Mean in Practice?
If you’re a Texas business owner or executive with a substantial commercial dispute — or a portfolio of commercial relationships that could generate one — here are the strategic points worth keeping in mind.
You may now have a choice of forum you didn’t have before.
If your dispute meets the jurisdictional requirements, you can affirmatively file in the Business Court or seek removal there. That’s a strategic decision with real consequences. Business Court offers more predictable procedure, judges with genuine commercial expertise, and a written opinion if you lose a critical motion — which matters both for appellate purposes and for managing client expectations. For a complex contract dispute, trade secret case, or shareholder controversy, the Business Court is often a meaningfully better venue than a general district court.
The filing standards are higher than typical state court.
The Business Court’s local rules are rigorous. Filings are expected to meet something closer to federal-court standards — detailed certificates of conference, properly formatted appendices, strict compliance with page limits and citation conventions. The court clerk is authorized to strike noncompliant documents. This is not a court where you want to walk in underprepared. The initial filing fee is $2,500, compared to the $350 typical in district court, and a 30-day window governs removal petitions once qualifying jurisdictional facts are discovered.
Consider Business Court jurisdiction when drafting contracts today.
This is perhaps the most actionable takeaway: the Business Court allows parties to consent to its jurisdiction by agreement, even for disputes that might not otherwise meet the threshold, as long as the underlying transaction involved at least $5 million in consideration. If you’re negotiating a significant commercial agreement right now, adding a Business Court consent clause may be worth considering. Done well, it gives both sides a credible, sophisticated forum if things go sideways — and may actually facilitate deal-making by giving sophisticated counterparties confidence in the dispute resolution mechanism.
One Caution: The Law Is Still Evolving
The Texas Business Court is a young institution, and its jurisprudence is still developing. The Fifteenth Court of Appeals — the court that hears Business Court appeals — is itself newly created and has only a modest body of published decisions. That means some procedural and jurisdictional questions don’t yet have definitive answers. As practitioners, we follow the court’s evolving local rules and published opinions closely, but businesses and their counsel should approach strategic decisions about Business Court filings with that uncertainty in mind.
Key Takeaways
- The Texas Business Court’s threshold dropped from $10 million to $5 million effective September 1, 2025 under HB 40.
- New subject matter jurisdiction covers IP, trade secrets, data security, arbitration enforcement, and Texas Finance/B&C Code claims.
- Parties can aggregate related transactions to meet the $5 million threshold.
- The court operates in five divisions: Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and Houston.
- Business Court consent jurisdiction can now be built into commercial contracts — a potentially valuable tool in new deal negotiations.
- Filing standards are rigorous and the $2,500 filing fee reflects the court’s sophistication; come prepared.
If you have a significant commercial dispute or are currently negotiating a high-value agreement and want to understand whether Business Court jurisdiction applies to your situation, we’d be glad to talk. At Kelley Clarke PC, we handle complex commercial litigation and contract matters throughout Texas. Contact us to schedule a consultation.
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this post does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws and court rules change frequently; the information in this post reflects our understanding as of April 2026. For advice about your specific situation, please consult a licensed Texas attorney.
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