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Ben F. Tennille

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Ben F. Tennille
Chief Judge, North Carolina Business Court 2005 to March 1, 2011
Succeeded byChief Judge, John R. Jolly 2011-2014
Judge, North Carolina Business Court 1996-2005
Appointed byGovernor Jim Hunt
Personal details
EducationPhillips Exeter Academy (1964), University of North Carolina (B.A. 1967), University of North Carolina School of Law (J.D. 1971)

Ben Fortune Tennille is a retired American judge who served in North Carolina from 1996 to 2011. He was the first Special Superior Court Judge for Complex Business Cases appointed to the North Carolina Business Court,[1] in 1996, and became its Chief Judge in 2005. He has also played a significant role in developing specialized business and commercial courts outside of North Carolina, including his role in creating the American College of Business Court Judges, and at the American Bar Association's Business Law Section.

Judicial service in North Carolina

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In 1996, North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt appointed Tennille as the first Special Superior Court Judge for Complex Business Cases to the newly created North Carolina Business Court. Tennille began with no designated office space, originally working out of his home and then temporary offices for three years, making use of technology in developing the new court court's operations.[2][3][4] He remained the sole Business Court judge until the fall of 2005,[5] when he became Chief Judge of the North Carolina Business Court,[6] a position he held until retiring on March 1, 2011.[7][8]

Among modern business courts, created since 1993, the North Carolina Business Court is one of the earliest.[9][10] In 2001, Tennille presided over the Business Court's first prominent case, First Union v. SunTrust Banks,[11] which has been described as giving complex business litigation "sea legs" to the Business Court.[12] General counsel for the Georgia defendant in that case, after the case was over, was convinced that it would be worthwhile to have a similar business court in Georgia.[13]

Tennille was known for technological innovations, such as launching an electronic filing system in 1999; creating a website for such filings and for providing court documents and information to the public, which was rated a top 10 website in 2007; developing high tech courtrooms; and partnering with law schools to provide facilities and offices to the Business Court judges, including high tech courtrooms at the law schools.[14] Tennille was also innovative in making use of early alternative dispute resolution, for example, having parties attend early case management conferences, and not simply their lawyers, and having the lawyers provide litigation cost estimates at the beginning of the case.[15]

Business court activities outside of North Carolina

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Tennille was one of the founders of the American College of Business Court Judges in 2005. He was its first president from 2005 to 2007.[16][17]

He has worked within the American Bar Association's Business Law Section to increase the role of U.S. business court judges' involvement in the Section, by undertaking efforts to create the Judges Initiative Committee[18] and the Business Court Representatives[19] program within the Section.[20]

He was chairman of the Business and Commercial Court Judges Committee of the American Bar Association's National Conference of State Trial Judges.[21]

Among other things:

In January 2007, he met with the co-chair of the South Carolina Bar's Task Force on Courts and the counsel to South Carolina's Chief Justice to discuss creating and operating business courts.[22]

In 2008, he spoke to a committee studying creation of a business court in Mississippi.[23]

In December 2009, he made a presentation to the Business Impact Committee of the State Bar of Michigan's Judicial Crossroads Task Force.[24]

In 2012, he spoke to a gathering in Dubai regarding commercial courts in the middle east.[25]

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Tennille was in private practice from 1971 to 1985, and was in-house counsel at Burlington Industries, Inc. from 1985 to 1995 (serving as a human resources director from 1993 to 1995).[26]

Publications

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Tennille has authored or co-authored a number of publications relating to business courts, in addition to authoring over 100 opinions while serving on the North Carolina Business Court.[27]

  • The Use of Mediation in the North Carolina Business Court, North Carolina Bar Association, Dispute Resolution, Vol. 18, No. 1 (October 2003).
  • Business and Commercial Court Judges Committee, Civil Action, Vol. 3 No. 1, page 5, National Center for State Courts (Winter 2004).
  • Developments at the North Carolina Business Court, Future Trends in State Courts 2010, National Center for State Courts (2010).
  • Getting to Yes in Specialized Courts: The Unique Role of ADR in Business Court Cases, Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1 (2011).

Education

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Tennille graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1964, received a B.A. from the University of North Carolina in 1967, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1971.[28]

Awards and recognition

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In 2006, he received the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Judicial Achievement Award, and in 2010 he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of North Carolina School of Law, which he graduated with honors, and as a member of the Order of the Coif in 1971.[29]

Public service

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After retirement, Tennille and his wife (a pediatrician) established H.O.P.E of Winston-Salem (Help Our People Eat), an organization dedicated to addressing food insecurity issues and children's health, in and around Forsyth County, North Carolina.[30]

References

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  1. ^ "Business Court | North Carolina Judicial Branch". www.nccourts.gov. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
  2. ^ "North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, Report on the Activities of the North Carolina Business Court 1996 to 2000" (PDF). April 1, 2000.
  3. ^ "The Honorable Justice Ben Tennille, P.R.I.M.E. Finance" (PDF).
  4. ^ Fowler, Hayley (June 5, 2023). "How A Real-Life 'Lincoln Lawyer' Hatched NC's Business Court". Law360.
  5. ^ "North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, Report on the Activities of the North Carolina Business Court 2006 - 2008" (PDF).
  6. ^ "The Honorable Justice Ben Tennille, P.R.I.M.E. Finance" (PDF).
  7. ^ Smith, Diana (March 11, 2011). "NC Business Court enters a new era as its founding judge retires". North Carolina Lawyers Weekly.
  8. ^ Craver, Richard (March 3, 2011). "Judge Tennille set the bar for state business courts". Winston-Salem Journal.
  9. ^ O'Brien, Carrie A. "The North Carolina Business Court: North Carolina's Special Superior Court for Complex Business Cases". North Carolina Banking Institute, University of North Carolina School of Law. 6 (1): 367–389.
  10. ^ "Ad Hoc Committee on Business Courts, Business Courts: Towards a More Efficienty Judiciary". The Business Lawyer. 52: 957. 1997.
  11. ^ Yang, Lijun K. (2002). "First Union v. SunTrust Banks: The Fight for Wachovia and Its Impact on North Carolina Corporate Law". North Carolina Banking Institute, University of North Carolina School of Law. 6 (1): 335–366.
  12. ^ Judge Albert Diaz and A. Jordan Sykes (2008). "The New North Carolina Business Court" (PDF). North Carolina State Bar Journal: 27.
  13. ^ Dayton, Mike (May 20, 2004). "Specialty Commercial Courts On The Rise In Region". Atlantic Coast In-House Counsel.
  14. ^ Hon. Ben F. Tennille and Corrine B. Jones (2010). Future Trends in State Courts 2010, Developments at the North Carolina Business Court. National Center for State Courts. pp. 90–93.
  15. ^ Tennille, Hon. Ben F. (2003). "The Use of Mediation in the North Carolina Business Court, North Carolina Bar Association" (PDF). Dispute Resolution. 18 (1): 1, 3, 7.
  16. ^ "The Honorable Justice Ben Tennille, P.R.I.M.E. Finance" (PDF).
  17. ^ "American College of Business Court Judges – Law & Economics Center". masonlec.org. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
  18. ^ "American Bar Association, Business Law Section, Judges Initiative Committee".
  19. ^ "American Bar Association, Business Law Section, Business Courts Representatives".
  20. ^ Yate, Hon. Christopher P. (2020). "The ABA's Contribution to the Development of Business Courts in the United States". Business Lawyer. 75: 2077, 2079.
  21. ^ Tennille, Hon. Ben F. (2004). "Business and Commercial Court Judges Committee, Civil Action, Vol. 3 No. 1, page 5, National Center for State Courts (NCSC)". cdm16501.contentdm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  22. ^ Report of the South Carolina Bar's Task Force on Courts re: The Creation of a Business Court Pilot Program, page 6 (August 1, 2007)  
  23. ^ "2008 Business Reform Committees Meeting of the Business Courts Study Group" (PDF). June 11, 2008.
  24. ^ "Business Impact Committee Meeting Minutes (December 11, 2009)" (PDF).
  25. ^ "Commercial Law Development Program, Iraq: Judicial Consultations on Commercial Courts". 2012.
  26. ^ "The Honorable Justice Ben Tennille, P.R.I.M.E. Finance" (PDF).
  27. ^ "Opinions".
  28. ^ "The Honorable Justice Ben F. Tennille, P.R.I.M.E. Finance" (PDF).
  29. ^ "The Honorable Justice Ben F. Tennilee, P.R.I.M.E. Finance" (PDF).
  30. ^ "History & Mission". HOPE. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
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