Judge Holly B. Smith

Applies to

Notice of hearing

Must include

certificate of conference

Every notice of hearing must include a certification that the movant conferred or attempted in good faith to confer with affected parties to resolve the dispute without court action.

Applies to

Notice of hearing

Once the hearing date is finalized, the moving party must file a Notice of Hearing listing the scheduled date and time, the motion to be heard, and the time allotted by the Court.

Applies to

Praecipe

A Praecipe must be filed before setting a civil case for trial, except for district-court appeals and cases for divorce, affirmation, or annulment.

Contact

Phone

Phone

(804) 693-1358

After filing a motion, the moving party must obtain available hearing dates from support staff, agree on a date with opposing counsel, and notify support staff of the chosen date; offered dates are not held and may become unavailable if counsel does not act promptly.

For an appealed family-abuse protective order issued under Virginia Code § 16.1-279.1, the district court clerk should confer with the Circuit Court clerk's office to select a trial date.

Contact

Letter fax

Counsel must fax the requested trial-setting information to support staff, and counsel and their party waive objections to the chosen trial date if counsel fails to submit available dates as required.

Counsel must confer with other counsel and self-represented parties to avoid unnecessary motions and narrow disputes; when a duty to confer applies, consultation must be in person or by telephone unless binding authority provides otherwise.

The moving party must follow the stated sequence to schedule a motion hearing, and offered dates are not held and may become unavailable if counsel does not act promptly.

Only motions scheduled under the Rule will be heard, and adding a motion to a scheduled hearing requires prior Court approval.

The Praecipe must be filed at least eleven days before Term Day.

Counsel must fax their available dates to support staff no later than the Wednesday before Term Day and include the expected trial length and whether a jury is demanded.

Counsel must fax available dates, expected trial length, and whether a jury is demanded to support staff no later than the Wednesday before the Term Day stated in the Notice of Appeal.