Virginia General District Court - Civil Procedure - Initiating Litigation

Initiating Litigation

GDC proceedings are relatively informal. It is not necessary to file formal pleadings. Rather, a plaintiff can fill out and serve the defendant with a "civil warrant", which is a form provided by the Clerk of the Court containing blanks to be filled in identifying the parties and the cause of action. Alternatively, the plaintiff can draft his own "notice of motion for judgment". The notice provided to the defendant must instruct the defendant of several things. It must explain how the trial date will be set; it must inform the defendant that failure to appear and contest the claim can result in a default being entered; and, under something of a quirk of Virginia law, it must tell the defendant how they may object to venue. The defendant need not file an answer at all, but can simply show up in court on the designated "return date" and contest the claim. The civil warrant may be served on the defendant by the sheriff or deputy of the county in which the defendant resides, unless the plaintiff opts to have service of process effected by an officer of the court. The return date is the date on which the defendant must appear in court, and can be anywhere from 5 to 60 days after service of process is effected.

If the defendant feels that the plaintiff has not provided enough information about the cause of action, he may file a motion for a "bill of particulars", and if the court grants such a motion then the plaintiff will be ordered to provide the requested details. If the cause of action is premised on a written instrument such as a contract or a deed, the original document must be provided to the court, and the defendant may use a motion for a bill of particulars to compel the production of this document as well. The plaintiff, on the other hand, may file a motion for "grounds of defense", which, if granted, will result in an order requiring the defendant to submit a written response indicating the defenses that it intends to assert. If the plaintiff fails to respond to a bill of particulars, or the defendant fails to provide requested grounds of defense, the court may enter summary judgment against the non-responsive party.

A defendant may also file a counterclaim against the plaintiff, or a cross-claim against a co-defendant, at any point before the trial begins, so long as the amount is within the jurisdictional limits of the GDC. Failure to file a counterclaim, however, does not effect a waiver of that counterclaim. A defendant may implead a third party anytime within ten days after service of process has been effected, up until the trial date, so long as the third party receives effective service of process. However, Virginia law prohibits a defendant from impleading a joint tortfeasor against whom the plaintiff is prohibited from recovering (such as plaintiff's employer in a negligent injury case, which would be covered by the state's workman's compensation). Virginia law does not recognize the doctrine of necessary and indispensable parties, so the inability to implead a party will not affect the court's jurisdiction over the case.

The GDC can also entertain interpleader causes of action, allowing a party holding something of value to force all competing claimants to litigate which of them has the superior claim. As with other causes of action, the jurisdictional limitations must be met. It must be remembered that the GDC has no injunctive power; while the Circuit Courts can issue injunctions prohibiting parties from litigating the interpleader claim in other forums, the GDC can not prevent this. Finally, there is no right of intervention in GDC proceedings; a third party that wishes to become a party to a pending case can not do so except on a motion of an existing party to the case.