AN ACT to provide for the establishment of an arbitration and MEDIATION program for the North carolina business court.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  In order to make North Carolina a leading jurisdiction for the resolution of business, commercial, financial, and other legal disputes, the Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, shall submit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore a report recommending whether and how to establish an arbitration program within the North Carolina Business Court, including how parties may make themselves subject to the jurisdiction of said program, required qualifications and trainings for arbitrators, and requirements for persons who may represent parties in arbitration proceedings before the Business Court. Such recommendations may include suggestions on the form of appeal for both binding and nonbinding arbitrations in cases arbitrated under such a proposal. The Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts or through the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission may also include recommendations for establishing a mediation program operated by the Business Court, including suggestions as to how parties may make themselves subject to the jurisdiction of said program, required qualifications for mediators, and for persons who may represent parties in mediation proceedings.
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 26th day of June, 2017.

	s/	 Daniel J. Forest
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 Tim Moore
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	_____________________________________
		 Roy Cooper
	 Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 201