UPDATE: COVID-19 Effect On Civil Litigation

UPDATE: On April 10, 2020, the Virginia Supreme Court issued a memorandum stating that Virginia state court judges may, in their discretion and with the consent of the parties, conduct any civil or criminal matter by electronic video or telephonic communication. While this memorandum is certainly not a universal green light for all civil cases to resume, it at least opens the door to the possibility that certain civil matters can proceed, with the consent of the judge and the parties.

On April 22, 2020, the Virginia Supreme Court entered an order extending the judicial emergency, and the corresponding restrictions on Virginia state courts as outlined in our original blog post on April 10, 2020, through May 17, 2020. As with the first two Emergency Declaration Orders from SCOVA, the April 22 order left open the possibility for the judicial emergency period to be further extended.