Listen to this articleAT A GLANCE
- Judge Michael L. Robinson will succeed Chief Judge Louis A Bledsoe III as the North Carolina Business Court’s chief judge, starting Jan. 1, 2025.
- Robinson was appointed by North Carolina Chief Justice Paul Newby.
- A. Todd Brown also has been confirmed as a Superior Court special judge and will join the Business Court under Newby’s appointment.
The makeup of the North Carolina Business Court has seen several changes over the last few weeks.
Most prominent is the selection of Judge Michael L. Robinson of Winston-Salem to serve as the court’s next chief judge effective Jan. 1, 2025, a news release from the North Carolina Judicial Branch says. Robinson was appointed by N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby.
Robinson will take the seat vacated by Chief Judge Louis A Bledsoe III, who announced he will retire Jan. 1. He has served on the court since 2014 and has been its chief judge since 2018.
“I appreciate Chief Judge Bledsoe’s years of committed service and have confidence that Judge Robinson will maintain the effective administration of justice in complex cases as our next chief judge of the Business Court,” Newby said in the release.
A new judge also is joining the court. The General Assembly has confirmed A. Todd Brown as a Superior Court special judge, and Newby said that he will appoint Brown to the Business Court once he takes office.
“Congratulations to Todd Brown on his confirmation to the Superior Court bench,” Newby said in the release. “I am proud to designate him as a Business Court judge.”
The Business Court has six Superior Court special judges, including the chief judge, and hears complex cases under G.S. 7A-45.4 and certain exceptional cases the chief justice assigns to it under Rules 2.1 and 2.2 of the General Rules of Practice and Procedure for the Superior and District Courts.
