Gwinnett Becomes First To Join Metro Atlanta Business Court

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — Gwinnett has become the first county to opt into a metro Atlanta-wide regional court system to handle business cases.

The goal of Metro Atlanta Business Court is to increase the speed and ease with which cases involving businesses move through the court system, rather than lumping them in with other Superior and State Court cases.

Superior Court Judge John Goger, who presides over the Fulton County Business Court, decided in 2014 to see if the business court model, used successfully in Fulton for over 10 years, could be expanded.

Last week, the Georgia Supreme Court voted to approve the expansion of Fulton's business court to include all metro Atlanta counties who opt into it.

"For Gwinnett businesses, business court will assure the cases will move as efficiently as possible through the court system," said Superior Court Judge Randy Rich, who pioneered a business-court pilot project in Gwinnett in 2006.

Rich and State Court Judge Joseph Iannazzone will be the presiding judges for Gwinnett's Business Case Division.

"I am looking forward to Gwinnett's participation in the Metro Atlanta Business Court," said Iannazzone. "I have found that early and active involvement in a case by the court can significantly reduce the time it takes to bring the case to resolution."