Wyoming Chancery Court

The Chancery Court of the State of Wyoming (the Wyoming Chancery Court) was created in 2019 as a specialized business court to provide a streamlined judicial forum for addressing commercial, business, and trust cases litigated in Wyoming's state courts, with a unique focus on digital assets and blockchain technology.

History
Wyoming's legislature passed a statute in 2019 creating the Wyoming Chancery Court, which was signed into law the same year. Unlike a traditional chancery court, which is a court of equity, Wyoming's new chancery court was given jurisdiction over purely monetary disputes as well as actions in equity, with a limited subject matter jurisdiction focusing on disputes of a business and commercial nature. One early stated goal for the Chancey Court involves Wyoming seeing itself in a unique role involving cryptocurrency and blockchain technology: "Coupled with Wyoming’s innovative legal framework for digital assets and blockchain technologies, the Chancery Court should attract blockchain businesses and cryptocurrency companies to the state."

The court went live on December 1, 2021.

Details
The court has its own set of rules. Under Wyoming Rule of Civil Procedure for the Chancery Court 3(a), all parties to a case must agree to the Chancery Court's jurisdiction, so a single party may timely object to that jurisdiction and have the case dismissed from the Chancery Court. The Chancery Court does not have jury trials, and is to employ alternative dispute resolution, limited motion practice, and carefully monitored and tailored discovery in making sure cases are handled expeditiously and effectively.

The court can have up to three judges, and currently (as of June 2024) has two. These judges have concurrent statewide jurisdiction with Wyoming's district court (the trial court of general jurisdiction) judges over matters within the Chancery Court's jurisdiction. Chancery Court judges receive the same salaries as district court judges. There is a separate clerk for the Chancery Court.