Chamber’s Advocacy Mission Requires
Vigilance in All Branches of Government
How Courts Affect our State’s Business Climate
While many of our Chamber’s customers focus their attention on the NC General Assembly when it comes to decision-making that affects our state’s business climate, North Carolina courts also impact our members and the cost of doing business either directly or indirectly. Most employers realize the great power the General Assembly has in affecting tax policies and rates, healthcare and workers’ compensation costs, and more. But some may fail to understand that the judges within our court system have similar power to affect North Carolina’s competitive position.
Our state’s judicial system unquestionably affects the ability of NC businesses to compete nationally and internationally and our state’s efforts to attract new jobs and investment so vital to our future. In fact, in a recent national survey of over 1,400 corporate attorneys and general counsels, 70 percent said that a state’s judicial climate is likely to impact important business location and expansion decisions within their companies.
The North Carolina Chamber considers it an important part of its mission to be informed about actions across all branches of government to help minimize risk for our customers. Evaluating and monitoring the judicial system in our state is an important part of our work. In order to be the leading advocate for business in North Carolina, our state Chamber recognizes that we must maintain an unrelenting vigilance in the executive and judicial branches of government, as well as the legislative branch.
Partnerships with National Organizations
Help Protect our Legal Climate
In our Chamber’s ongoing efforts to maintain a favorable legal climate in North Carolina to spur job creation and attract business investment, we partner with two widely recognized national organizations focused on legal climate issues: the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) and the American Justice Partnership (AJP). The ATRA is a nonpartisan organization with affiliated coalitions in more than 40 states working to bring greater fairness, predictability and efficiency to America’s civil justice system. Similarly, the AJP is a national coalition of leading corporations and organizations advocating for legal reform at the state level across our nation.
Recent Court Decisions Shed Light on
Judicial Influence on Business Climate
Our Chamber has identified several recent decisions by our state courts that illustrate how the court system can have a direct impact on our customers and North Carolina’s business climate:
The North Carolina Court of Appeals just a couple of weeks ago sent a case back to the Industrial Commission, bringing into question the scope of benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act. The Industrial Commission had previously held that a worker’s retirement benefits were not permitted to be included when calculating workers’ compensation rates. The Court of Appeals, on the other hand, found that the law was unclear as to whether a worker was in fact entitled to these benefits being included and urged the General Assembly to clarify the law.
This case is a prime example of how judicial statutory interpretation can have a direct effect on business costs. Our courts are handling issues that will determine whether employers have an expansion of workers' compensation costs, which will either hinder or benefit our competitive position.
The North Carolina Supreme Court in November ruled that members of an LLC are entitled to exclusivity protection under workers’ compensation law, meaning that an injured worker does not have the right to bring a separate civil action suit against the member.
As a contrary holding would have increased business costs substantially, our Chamber filed an amicus brief on behalf of the LLC. Expanding liability outside the scope of workers’ compensation remedies for injuries would have had a devastating effect on North Carolina’s business climate.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled in October that incentives given to Dell, Inc. by the state were constitutional. The NC Institute for Constitutional Law had brought suit claiming that state incentives as a principle were contrary to state constitutional principles.
The court’s decision upholds the decision of the General Assembly and local governments to give Dell, Inc. incentives to locate a manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem, employing more than 1,100 workers. This ruling is an example of a judicial decision affecting economic development policy.
Chamber Provides Diligent Advocacy on All Fronts
Court decisions can either expand or restrain liability for businesses. They affect business climate and business decisions. In addition to strong partnerships with national organizations with common objectives, our Chamber has worked with member law firms in filing amicus curiae briefs on behalf of members involved in influential court cases. These briefs are used to support the business position in an effort to influence court rulings affecting business liability costs. Our Chamber will continue its work to monitor and evaluate court decisions that affect our state’s business climate and employers’ capacity for growth and job creation. It’s what we do.
If you are interested in the Chamber work in this area, click here.
| 
