Va. Sup. Ct. R. 5:1

(a) Scope of Rules. ‒ Part Five governs all proceedings in the Supreme Court of

Virginia.

(b) Citation. ‒ These Rules may be cited generally as the “Rules of the Supreme Court

of Virginia” and specifically as “Rule 5:___.”

(c) Definitions.

(1) "clerk" means clerk of the court or commission from which an appeal is taken

unless some other clerk is specified and, unless the context otherwise requires,

includes a deputy clerk;

(2) "clerk of this Court" includes a deputy clerk;

(3) "counsel" has the definition given in Rule 1:5 and in this Part Five includes a

party not represented by counsel;

(4) "counsel for the appellant" means one of the attorneys representing each

appellant represented by an attorney and each appellant not represented by an

attorney;

(5) "counsel for the appellee" means one of the attorneys representing each

appellee represented by an attorney and each appellee not represented by an attorney.

In an appeal from the State Corporation Commission, "counsel for the appellee"

includes counsel for the Commission and, unless the Commonwealth is the appellant,

the Attorney General;

(6) "Court of Appeals" means the Court of Appeals of Virginia;

(7) "opposing counsel" means, depending on the context, "counsel for the

appellant" or "counsel for the appellee";

(8) "judge" means judge of the trial court, unless the context otherwise requires,

or if the judge of the trial court is not available, any judge authorized to act under

Rule 5:12;

(9) "judgment" includes an order or decree from which an appeal is taken;

(10) "trial court" means the circuit court from which an appeal is taken;

(11) the "date of entry" of any final judgment or other appealable order or decree

is the date the judgment, order, or decree is signed by the judge.

(d) Service. ‒ Unless service or notice is otherwise specified in a given Rule, any

paper or object filed with this Court must have included within it or appended to it a

certificate of service or acceptance of service showing that a copy has been transmitted to

all counsel and showing the date and manner of transmittal. If a word count is used, the

certificate must also state the number of words (headings, footnotes, and quotations count

towards the word limitation; the cover page, table of contents, table of authorities, and

certificate do not count towards the word count).

(e) Notice of Change of Address and Other Contact Information. ‒ If an attorney has a

change in mailing address, telephone number, facsimile number, or e-mail address any

time after the filing of the notice of appeal, the attorney must immediately notify the clerk

of this Court and all other counsel of record in writing. The notice must reference the

style and record number of all cases pending before this Court.

(f) Citing Unpublished Judicial Dispositions. ‒ The citation of judicial opinions,

orders, judgments, or other written dispositions that are not officially reported, whether

designated as “unpublished,” “not for publication,” “non precedential,” or the like, is

permitted as informative, but will not be received as binding authority. If the cited

disposition is not available in a publicly accessible electronic database, a copy of that

disposition must be filed with the brief or other paper in which it is cited.

(g) Filings. ‒ Every document or object filed with or transmitted to this Court must be

filed or transmitted in compliance with these Rules. Originals or copies of documents or

objects should not be filed with or transmitted to any justice of this Court, unless

expressly authorized by the Court. A failure to comply with this prohibition may result in

the imposition of penalties under Rule 5:1A.

(h) Substitution of Parties.

(1) Substitution of a Successor. — If a person becomes incapable of prosecuting or

defending because of death, disability, conviction of felony, or other cause, and the

claim is not extinguished, a successor in interest may be substituted as a party in such

person’s place.

(2) Motion. — Substitution may be made on motion of the successor or of any party

to the appeal.

(3) Public Officers; Death or Separation from Office. — An action does not abate

when a public officer who is a party in an official capacity dies, resigns, or otherwise

ceases to hold office while the action is pending. The officer’s successor is

automatically substituted as a party. Later proceedings should be in the substituted

party’s name, but any misnomer not affecting the parties’ substantial rights must be

disregarded. The court may order substitution at any time, but the absence of such an

order does not affect the substitution.