LANSING – The Michigan Chamber of Commerce has created a litigation center aimed at helping win cases that affect businesses in the state, and the first case the center may be involved in is a U.S. Supreme Court case involving the state’s campaign finance law.
The Michigan Chamber Litigation Center is “another tool in the tool box” in seeking favorable rulings to help job providers, said Bob LaBrant, senior vice president for the chamber. Sometimes the chamber needs to go to court either as party or as an amicus to win those issues, LaBrant said.
In a statement, Chamber President Rich Studley said that a “sound legal climate will not singularly lift our economy out of recession, but it is clear that there is a direct correlation between a state’s legal environment and its economic competitiveness.”
The center will allow the chamber to finance legal efforts without having to use the general dues of its members, LaBrant said. The center will be a tax-exempt entity, he said.
One of the first legal issues the center will be involved with is filing an amicus brief in a campaign finance case, Austin v. Chamber of Commerce, that will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on September 9, almost a full month before the court begins its annual term. The case, scheduled for 10 a.m. that day, also will be the first case heard by the newest justice, Sonia Sotomayor, who was sworn in over the weekend.
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