Business Court Holds Removal Unavailable for Cases Filed Before September 1, 2024

In TEMA Oil and Gas Company v. ETC Field Services LLC, the Business Court's Eighth Division granted remand of an oil-and-gas contract dispute originally filed in 2017, holding that Section 8 of H.B. 19 bars removal of cases commenced before the Business Court's September 1, 2024 operative date. The court rejected the defendant's argument that Chapter 25A's silence on pre-effective-date cases permitted retroactive application, finding instead that the legislature's plain language limited the court's jurisdiction to cases "begun on or after September 1, 2024."