Contents and Scope: The pages comprising this site contain lists of reported cases by Virginia's highest appellate court, presently known as the Supreme Court of Virginia. A few early cases from the General Court, various Special Courts of Appeals, and the post-Civil War Military Court of Appeals are also included. The cases are arranged as printed in the series commonly known as Virginia Reports. At present the Virginia Reports citation is the only access point to the lists. Cases from each volume of Virginia Reports are listed on a separate page. Links are provided to analysis of the individual cases. Pages at all levels link to adjacent cases or volumes, with links back to the Table of Volumes that connects the entire set. Early (pre-1840) volumes consisting enirely of cases for which the Law Library does not have briefs are not linked.
For each case, the listing includes the Virginia Reports citation, a parallel citation (if one exists), the style (or name) of the case, the name of the court, the case record or docket number, the date of the decision, the source of the case (lower court decision or other origin), the outcome of the case on appeal, and the opinions rendered in the case. With respect to the case outcome, abbreviations commonly used include "aff." for "affirmed," "rev." for "reversed," "rem." for "remand," "in pt." for "in part," and "fin. judg." for "final judgment."
Each case analysis also includes a list of the records and briefs held by the Muse Law Library at the University of Richmond School of Law. Each piece of the set is identified separately. The briefs are identified by party (in parentheses) and, where necessary, by record number. The pagination of each piece is also noted.
The notes include references to related decisions, occasional explanations of case history or arrangement, and alerts to anomalies in the scope, format, or arrangement of the Law Library's set of the records and briefs.
Access: Case reporters and records and briefs sets are available for use in the Muse Law Library. The Library does not lend either case reporters or records and briefs sets. Limited photocopying (generally limited to 20 pages or less) may be requested for a fee. Requests may be submitted by e-mail to lawinterlib@richmond.edu.
In 2006, a consortium of Virginia academic law libraries, plus the Virginia State Law Library, launched a digital version of Virginia Supreme Court briefs available through HeinOnline. HeinOnline's coverage at this writing (December 2009) extends to 273 Va. with other volumes soon to follow, and includes briefs, but not appendices. Those wishing to subscribe to this service should contact HeinOnline.
Please make suggestions: Comments on the arrangement and content of these pages, including discovery of any errors, should be addressed to dturner2@richmond.edu.