As an annual update, this article discusses decisions from the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Court of Appeals of Virginia reviewing procedural issues. Some of the analysis provides a new perspective on a procedural topic and other parts of the analysis focus on issues where courts are reminding Virginia practitioners of procedural obstacles and pitfalls. The article further discusses revisions to civil procedure provisions of the Code of Virginia and Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia through June 2024.

The article first addresses relevant procedural issues and analyses in opinions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, then new legislation enacted during the 2024 General Assembly Session, and finally revisions to the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Christopher S. Dadak *

* Guynn Waddell, P.C., Salem, Virginia. J.D., 2012, University of Richmond School of
Law; B.A., 2008, Washington and Lee University.

This Article surveys recent developments in criminal procedure and law in Virginia. Because of space limitations, the authors have limited their discussion to the most significant published appellate decisions and legislation.

Tanner M. Russo *

Hallie Hovey-Murray **

Alli M. Mentch ***

* Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Appeals Section, Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of Virginia. J.D., 2018, University of Virginia School of Law; B.A., 2015, College of William & Mary.

** Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Appeals Section, Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of Virginia. J.D., 2019, William & Mary School of Law; B.A., 2016, Southern Methodist University.

*** Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Appeals Section, Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of Virginia. J.D., 2021, William & Mary School of Law; B.S., 2018, The Pennsylvania State University.

This Article reviews significant recent developments in the laws affecting Virginia state and local taxation. Its Parts cover legislative activity, judicial decisions, and selected opinions from the past
year. Part I of this Article addresses taxes administered by the Virginia Department of Taxation (“Tax Department” or “Department”). Part II covers local taxes including real and tangible personal property; machinery, tools, and license taxes; and other discrete local taxes.

The overall purpose of this Article is to provide Virginia and general practitioners with a concise overview of the recent developments in Virginia taxation that are most likely to impact their clients. However, it does not address many of the minor, locality-specific or technical legislative changes to Title 58.1 of the Code of Virginia, which covers taxation.

Craig D. Bell *

* Partner, McGuireWoods LLP, Richmond, Virginia. LL.M., 1986, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, College of William & Mary; J.D., 1983, State University of New York at Buffalo; M.B.A., 1980, Syracuse University; B.S., 1979, Syracuse University.

Mr. Bell is past chair of McGuireWoods’ Tax and Employee Benefits Department, and practices primarily in the areas of state and local taxation, and civil and criminal tax litigation. He is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, a Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a Master of the J. Edgar Murdock Inn of Court (United States Tax Court), an adjunct professor of tax law at the College of William & Mary’s Marshall-Wythe School of Law, and a past chair of both the Tax and Military Law sections of the Virginia State Bar and the Tax Section of the Virginia Bar Association. 

Mr. Bell is an emeritus director of The Community Tax Law Project, a nonprofit pro bono provider of tax law services for the working poor, and is its recipient of the Lifetime Pro Bono Achievement Award for his pro bono work in representing hundreds of Virginians before the IRS and in United States Tax Court and federal district court, as well as developing and training many lawyers in the area of federal tax law to expand pro bono representation for low-income taxpayers. The American Bar Association Section of Taxation recognized Mr. Bell as its 2023 National Pro Bono Tax Lawyer of the Year.

This article marks the first Administrative Law update in the Annual Survey of Virginia Law since 2014. Looking back over the past ten years, Virginia administrative law has remained remarkably stable in comparison to federal administrative law. Debate about a “major questions doctrine” has largely been absent in a state where the General Assembly is active and remains the dominant policy-making body in Virginia government.

Debate about Chevron is nonexistent here because agencies have never received deference for their reasonable interpretations of ambiguous Virginia statutes. Still, there has been change, and this article will highlight the most significant developments in judicial decisions, as well as legislative and executive branch changes to administrative law.

But while Virginia administrative law has been stable, Virginia politics have not. The state’s political dynamics have significantly changed in the last ten years. This article predicts that, because of those trends, the next ten years will not be so quiet on administrative law.

Noah P. Sullivan *

* Partner, Gentry Locke Attorneys, Richmond, Virginia. J.D., Stanford Law School; B.A. in
Government with Highest Distinction, University of Virginia.

Mr. Sullivan is a Partner at Gentry Locke with a practice focus in Commercial Litigation and Government/Regulatory Litigation. Prior to joining Gentry Locke, Mr. Sullivan served as Deputy Counsel and then Counsel for Governor Terence R. McAuliffe. There, Mr. Sullivan oversaw the executive branch review process of all regulations in the state regulatory system. Also prior to joining Gentry Locke, Mr. Sullivan worked as a litigation attorney for the better part of nine years at the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

This year could be considered quiet in both legislative and judicial activity, lacking as it was in any substantial new legislative enactments or major opinions from the Supreme Court of Virginia on core wealth transfer issues.

Nevertheless, a set of modest legislative changes helped bring the rules for revocable trusts in line
with the rules for wills, standardizing estate planning and wealth transfer regulation, while other changes also brought clarity to existing rules by amplifying procedures and providing additional detail for administrative processes.

In the judicial setting, while guidance for this practice area was primarily provided by the Court of
Appeals of Virginia, the cases covered a wide array of topics, like rights to an accounting, the role of the Commissioner, and no contest clauses. A large concentration of the judicial matters also flagged the numerous issues that can arise when leaving property and residence rights to individuals through an estate plan.

Allison A. Tait *

Hunter M. Glenn **

* Professor of Law, University of Richmond School of Law, Richmond, Virginia. J.D., 2011, Yale Law School; Ph.D., Yale University; B.A., Bryn Mawr.

** Associate, McGuireWoods LLP, Charlottesville, Virginia. J.D., 2017, University of Richmond School of Law; B.A., 2013, Furman University.

One need only look to the research and recommendations regarding the involuntary commitment process, psychiatric hospitalizations, and CSBs to see how the last thirty years of recommendations have signaled the future importance of Specialty Dockets.

The Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission (“JLARC”) was created in 1973 as part of the legislative branch of state government to research into particular areas of need and evaluation in the Commonwealth. In this article, we utilize JLARC’s historical recommendations and apply them to the
function of Specialty Dockets, particularly in the behavioral health/mental health context. This Article focuses primarily on particular issue items in reports from JLARC and their roles in the intersection of civil involuntary commitment and criminal Specialty Dockets. 

The Honorable Jacqueline S. McClenney *

* The Honorable Jacqueline S. McClenney is the Chief Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Virginia, a University of Richmond School of Law Graduate, and the Presiding Judge for the Circuit Court Behavioral Health Docket. I am grateful to Kelly O’Brien, judicial law clerk (2023–2024) and summer intern Jordan Narcisse for their research and assistance. Thank you to the staff and participants of the Behavioral Health Docket whose commitment to service and growth are the inspiration for this Article.