It is common practice in Virginia’s Circuit Courts for counsel to meet at a scheduling conference whereby the attorneys provide the court with an estimated number of days a trial is expected to last. Virginia General District Court trials are much more compressed and are designed to last hours, as opposed to days or weeks.

Most, if not all, General District Courts in Virginia have maximum allowable time limits for civil cases. These time limits vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In addition, while General District Courts may have a “first return” docket to set trial dates, they do not have scheduling conferences.

A Virginia litigator needs to determine the time limits for the particular General District Court. If you anticipate that your case will exceed the maximum allowable time limit, contact the court clerk in advance to make alternative arrangements. By doing so, the clerk can coordinate the schedules of the judges to accommodate your lengthier trial and perhaps may put another judge on the bench that particular day.

The Fairfax County General District Court, for example, expects all civil trials to last no longer than two hours. If counsel expects a trial to last more than two hours, the clerk of court needs to be notified in advance. The danger of not doing so is that a judge may stop the case at two hours, or stop each side’s presentation of their evidence at the one hour mark. Alternatively, you may end up with a very upset judge.