Gannett News Service

As a small business person, you probably haven’t thought much about the hubbub happening over the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice. After all, you’re almost certainly never going to have a case before the Supreme Court.

Although some Supreme Court rulings may affect social issues you care about or laws involving large corporate interests, high court business decisions rarely directly affect small businesses.

So why should you pay attention, let alone care, that some Republican members of the U.S. Senate, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have vowed to block any confirmation hearing on President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, to serve on the highest court in the land? Why should it bother you if the Senate refuses to provide the “advice and consent’’ required by the Constitution?

You should care because all businesses — small and large — depend on a working, respected judicial system. Your business does, too, even if you never, ever go to court.

Here is one indisputable fact about business: we all depend on contracts. Very little business is conducted with just a handshake. Think for a moment how hard it would be to run your business if you didn’t know how any contract you wrote would be interpreted or enforced.

Court decisions and precedent guide our business decisions.

Soon after the Soviet Union collapsed, I had a friend, a venture capitalist, who opened an office to invest in new companies in a former Soviet country. It seemed like very fertile ground — a huge market, open to capitalism for the first time in nearly a century with pent-up demand for consumer goods.

After about a year, my friend’s firm closed its office. Why? No reliable court system had yet been established. While some laws had been enacted, there was no history of court decisions by which laws could be interpreted and business decisions made. There was no judicial “precedent.’’ No case law. So my friend’s firm couldn’t invest in new companies. Or make large purchases. In short, it couldn’t conduct business.

When courts don’t work, businesses don’t work. As a small business person, you depend on contracts and the judicial system silently standing behind them.

With my first book contract, I just wanted to get published. I didn’t want to make a fuss over a contract. But my lawyer insisted on a few, reasonable clauses — one of which was outlining how quickly my publisher had to make payments. Nearly a decade later, my small publisher failed to meet those terms. I ended up in mediation, not in court, during which my publisher’s lawyer — not mine — warned my publisher how the courts would deal with him, based on legal precedent. He settled.

Businesses love precedent. Precedent is what gives meaning to terms and clauses in contracts. Precedent avoids conflicts.

Sure, some big corporate interests might want to see judicial activists on the bench, hoping they would gut consumer protections. And sure, the most vociferous social activists might want judicial activists to bend laws to their ideals of social norms. But responsible, thoughtful business people want thoughtful, smart judges who respect precedent, are impartial and revere the law above any political position or personal agenda.

Merrick Garland might not be my choice for Supreme Court justice. He might not be yours. But he is eminently qualified for the position. Even Republicans who now vow to block a hearing on his appointment have praised him in the past. Those familiar with him note Garland’s deference to precedent, saying he is a model of judicial restraint.

For the Senate to hold up Garland’s Supreme Court nomination, decisions won’t be made, maybe for a year. Refusing to even consider nominees that both sides recognize as highly qualified not only further politicizes the judiciary, it keeps qualified individuals from wanting to serve as judges.

The current effort to block Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court dramatically undercuts respect for the court in particular, and for the judicial system in general.

That’s bad for business, even small business.

Among Rhonda Abrams’ recent books is the 6th edition of Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies. Register for her free newsletter at PlanningShop.com. Twitter: @RhondaAbrams.