Virginia Legal Materials

The present judicial system in Virginia consists of four levels of courts: the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the circuit courts, and the district courts. The Supreme Court is Virginia's court of last resort.  It's a discretionary court, which means that it can choose which appeals to hear.  The Court of Appeals is an intermediate court.  It must hear any appeals brought before it from the lower level courts. The circuit courts and the district courts are the courts of first instance, in other words, these are courts of original jurisdiction where most matters start. In addition to the courts, magistrates serve as judicial officers with authority to handle different processes usually in criminal matters.

For a more thorough overview of the Virginia court system, please refer to Virginia's Court System (CIB) available from the Virginia Judicial System website. Non-lawyers may also find the Virginia Judicial System Court Self-Help Resources helpful.

• Virginia Reports
  Ranges 204-205, Virginia Materials, 2d Floor, Vol. 1 - cur.
  Opinions of cases decided by the Supreme Court of Virginia, Virginia's highest court. 
  VA. Supreme Court decisions are also available from: 
  • 1729 to present on Bloomberg Law
  • 1730 to present on Lexis
  • 1790 to present on Westlaw
  • freely available online from 1995 to present at Supreme Court of Virginia Opinions and Published Orders.
• Virginia Court of Appeals Reports
  Range 204, Virginia Materials, 2d Floor, 1985-cur.
  Opinions of cases decided by the Court of Appeals of Virginia.
  Court of Appeals decisions are also available from: 
  • 1985 to present on Westlaw, Lexis, and on Bloomberg Law. 
  • Published decisions of the Court of Appeals from 1995 to present are also freely available online at Court of Appeals of Virginia Published Opinions
  • Unpublished decisions are freely available online from 2002 to present at Court of Appeals of Virginia Unpublished Opinions.
• South Eastern Reporter 1st and 2d series
  Range 206-207, Virginia Materials, 2d Floor, Complete 1st series, 2d series thru vol. 769.
  Regional reporter for published Supreme Court and Court of Appeals decisions from Virginia. The print copy is no longer updated as of 2015. South Eastern Reporter is also available on Westlaw.
• Virginia Circuit Court Opinions
  Range 204, Virginia Materials, 2d Floor, Vols. 1-102.
  Selected opinions from Virginia circuit courts.  This set started in 1985 as a student project to collect the best and most interesting cases decided at the circuit court level from all time periods and slowly expanded into a regular yearly collection.  Coverage varies wildly until 2000. Circuit court opinions and orders are available from:
  • 1957 to present on Bloomberg Law  
  • 1976 to present on Westlaw (please note that Westlaw refers to these decisions as 'Trial Court Cases') 
  • 1855 to present are available on Lexis
• Historical Reports.   LLMC Digital is an excellent online source for historical decisions.  

Bloomberg, Westlaw, and Lexis are available to Scalia Law students and faculty only.

• SouthEastern Digest 2d
  Range 206, Virginia Materials, 2d floor
  A subject index for cases reported in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia since 1934.  This digest uses the West Key System where topics are listed by subject and then broken down further into different concepts and assigned Key Numbers.  The Key Numbers remain the same no matter what jurisdiction you are researching in.  The print copy was last updated in 2008.  You can also find this digest online on Westlaw. 
   
• Virginia and West Virginia Digest
  Range 206, Virginia Materials, 2d floor
  A subject index for cases based on the West Key System for state and federal cases decided in Virginia and West Virginia since 1681.  Topics are listed by subject and then broken down into different concepts and assigned Key numbers.  The Key numbers remain the same no matter what jurisdiction you are researching in.  The set also comes with a Descriptive Word Index, Table of Cases, and other useful case finding features.  The print copy was last updated in 2020.  You can also find this digest online on Westlaw. 

• Virginia Supreme Court Records and Briefs.  Washington and Lee University's School of Law provides digital briefs from 1923 through 2005 on their website, linked here.  The University of Richmond School of Law Library has also digitized some briefs, and made them available here.  An online collection is also available on HeinOnline (Mason and on-site users only) up to 2015.  Records and briefs in cases decided by opinion from 2006 to present are available electronically upon request. Please see a Reference Librarian for assistance with our Virginia Supreme Court Records and Briefs collection.
• Dockets. Virginia Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Circuit Court, and General District Court dockets are available on the Virginia Judicial System Case Information and Status web site. They can be searched by party name and case number. Dockets for these courts are also available on Bloomberg Law and Westlaw (Scalia Law and on-site users only). They can also be searched by keyword. General District Court dockets are not available on Bloomberg Law, and Westlaw provides limited docket information for these courts. There is some docket coverage on Lexis, and statewide Circuit Courts are also available on Lexis Courtlink (Scalia Law users only). Students should see a Reference Librarian for assistance with Courtlink.
• Verdicts and Settlements. VerdictSearch D.C. Metro provides verdicts and settlements in D.C. metro area cases, including D.C.; the counties of Prince George’s, Montgomery, Baltimore, and Fairfax; and the independent cities of Richmond, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach.  In the Scalia Law Library, years 2013-2018 are available on the second floor, in Ranges 201-206 (KF8984.A59 M4.). 

• Virginia Court Rules. Contained in Volume 11 of the Code of Virginia, (Law Library, 2d Floor, Range 203 (Virginia Materials)) and on Lexis (Scalia Law users only), on Bloomberg Law (Scalia Law users only) and also in Westlaw (Scalia Law users only). Current Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia are also available at Virginia’s Judicial System.
• Virginia Rules Annotated, Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials).  Also available on Westlaw (Scalia Law and on-site users only).