IMPORTANT CHANGES TO CAV FILING PROCEDURES

(Posted March 19, 2020) Here’s an update on new filing procedures in the Court of Appeals of Virginia. According to Chief Deputy Clerk John Vollino, the court wants everything filed electronically and strongly prefers not to receive paper filings. The Clerk’s Office will enable VACES filing for all attorneys and pro se parties for all documents that otherwise would be filed in paper form. The web address for such filings is:

http://www.vacourts.gov/online/vaces/home.html

For persons using the VACES system, motions may be filed as “Other” along with the existing record number. For initial filings, such as a notice of appeal, call the document “Other” and use a record number of 0000-00. The clerk will process it from there, and will contact you to make arrangements for the filing fee. John says that he expects to be set up to accept credit-card payments by later today.

For pro se filings where litigants don’t have access to VACES, the court asks that everything be filed by e-mail. The address is cavbriefs@vacourts.gov. Only if e-mail is unavailable, pro se litigants may mail the documents to the Clerk, or deposit them in a drop box just inside the courthouse, at the Eighth Street entrance.

If you need to contact the Clerk’s Office, be patient. They’re operating on a skeleton crew that’s juggling the court’s normal caseload in decidedly abnormal times.