I’m headed over to the Homestead later today for the VBA summer meeting. I hope to see some of you there.
I humbly predict that one of the highlights of the meeting will be a panel at 2:30 tomorrow put on by the Civil Litigation and Appellate Practice sections, “The Roberts Court at Age
Rule 5:8A, “Appeal from Partial Final Judgment in Multi-Party Cases,” is a completely new–and highly technical–rule. It is intended to clarify who may appeal and when in cases involving multiple claims and multiple parties. The advisory committee’s report indicates that the Rule was adopted in response to a general sense of confusion about appellate rights
Here are some more of the questions that have led readers to our humble blog (or left them hopelessly confused after getting here):
Time to dive like an Italian midfielder back into our analysis of Virginia’s new appellate rules:
Today’s Rule is 5:5, which governs filing deadlines, post-trial proceedings, timely filing by mail, and extensions of time. The Court makes a few material changes here, which are by and large practitioner-friendly.
As amended, Rule 5:5(a) specifies
We continue our journey into the depths of madness through Virginia’s revised appellate rules with a completely new addition: Rule 5:1A, “Penalties for Non-compliance; Show Cause; Dismissal.” This Rule contains both good and bad news for practitioners.
Let’s start with the good: As its caption suggests, this Rule governs what happens when lawyers screw up.
Another round of our answers to the imponderable questions that lead people to this blog:
A little while ago, I promised to share my thoughts on the revised appellate rules that take effect on July 1. (Okay, so it was a more than month ago. Things have been busy.)
Let’s start at the beginning. Rule 5:1 has been amended to include two new substantive provisions:
I hope that you’re all enjoying the holiday weekend. I was relaxing by the lake this morning and talking to my adorable and precocious niece when the conversation turned to what I do for a living. We didn’t get very far, because she cut me off, oral-argument style, with the titular query–“What’s a trial?”
Good
It’s time for another trip to the electric mailbag to see what’s on your collective mindgrapes.
At the behest of some of my colleagues and our insurance carrier, I’d like to reiterate that this post is not legal advice. Nobody reading this blog should expect to enjoy any kind of attorney-client relationship with me
Deadlines are an important part of my practice. You wouldn’t believe how much time I spend re-reading rules I could practically recite by heart and counting days. Monks have their rosaries, and I have my calendar.
That’s because appellate courts are sticklers for deadlines. I’ve heard plenty of complaints and conspiracy theories over the years,