Rule 5:17, which governs petitions for appeal, includes a few important changes that practitioners should note.

First, Rule 5:17(c)(1) clarifies what you need to include in your assignments of error: Under a separate heading called “Assignments of Error,” the petition must list, “clearly and concisely without extraneous argument” the specific errors in the rulings below

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 

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.