Virginia Constitution | Judicial Materials | Legislative Materials | Administrative Materials | Local Government Materials | Secondary Sources | Practice Materials | Virginia History

      Virginia Constitution:

      The Constitution of Virginia is available at Virginia’s Legislative Information System. It may also be found in volume one of the Code of Virginia, Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials) and 102 (Virginia Quick Reference Materials).

      Judicial Materials:

      An overview of the Virginia court system is available at Virginia's Judicial System.

      Case Reporters

      • Virginia Reports, Ranges 229 (Virginia Materials). Reports of cases decided in the Supreme Court of Virginia, Virginia's highest court. Supreme Court decisions are also available from 1730 to present on Lexis (Mason Law and on-site users only), from 1790 to present on Westlaw (Mason Law and on-site users only), and from 1995 to present on Supreme Court of Virginia Opinions.
      • Virginia Court of Appeals Reports, Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials). Reports of cases decided in the Court of Appeals of Virginia. Court of Appeals decisions are also available from 1985 to present on Westlaw and Lexis (Mason Law and on-site users only). Additionally, published decisions of the Court of Appeals are available from 1995 to present on Court of Appeals of Virginia Published Opinions, and unpublished decisions are available from 1995 to present on Court of Appeals of Virginia Unpublished Opinions.
      • South Eastern Reporter, Range 202. Regional reporter for published Supreme Court and Court of Appeals decisions from Virginia. The print copy is no longer being updated (as of 8/1/2015). The current South Eastern Reporter is also available on Westlaw (Mason Law and on-site users only) and Lexis (Mason Law users only).
      • Virginia Circuit Court Opinions, Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials). Selected opinions from Virginia circuit courts since 1985. Circuit court opinions and orders from 1957 to present and a limited number of opinions from 1855 to 1957 are available on Lexis (Mason Law and on-site users only).

      Digest

      • Virginia and West Virginia Digest, Range 102 (Virginia Quick Reference Materials). A subject index to cases based on the West Key Number System. Arranged alphabetically into more than 400 major topics and approximately 100,000 subtopics (i.e., key numbers), each key number focuses on a specific point of law with summaries of related cases. Preceded by a Descriptive Word Index and followed by a Table of Cases, the West Key Number System may also be accessed on Westlaw (Mason Law and on-site users only).

      Court Documents

      • Virginia Supreme Court Records and Briefs. Records and briefs in granted cases from 1978 to 2007 are located in the Law Library Archives. Records and briefs in cases decided by opinion from 2006 to present are available electronically upon request. Please see a Reference Librarian for assistance with our Virginia Supreme Court Records and Briefs collection. An online collection is also available on HeinOnline (Mason and on-site users only). This collection includes briefs that correspond to opinions from volumes 48-279 (1850-2010) of Virginia Reports. While the collection also includes some records, coverage is not comprehensive and records are more likely to be found for cases decided from the 1870s to 1950s.
      • Dockets. Virginia Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Circuit Court, and General District Court dockets are available on the Virginia Judicial System Case Information and Status web site. They can be searched by party name and case number. Dockets for these courts are also available on Bloomberg Law and Westlaw (Mason Law and on-site users only). They can also be searched by keyword. General District Court dockets are not available on Bloomberg Law, and Westlaw provides limited docket information for these courts. Dockets for statewide Circuit Courts are also available on Lexis Courtlink (Mason Law users only). Students should see a Reference Librarian for assistance with Courtlink.
      • Verdicts and Settlements. VerdictSearch D.C. Metro provides verdicts and settlements in D.C. metro area cases, including D.C.; the counties of Prince George’s, Montgomery, Baltimore, and Fairfax; and the independent cities of Richmond, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach. KF8984.A59 M4. RESERVE. Also available on VerdictSearch (please see a Reference Librarian for assistance).

      Court Rules

      • Virginia Court Rules. Contained in Volume 11 of the Code of Virginia, Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials) and 102 (Virginia Quick Reference Materials), and on Lexis (Mason Law and on-site users only). Also contained in Volume 11 of West's Annotated Code of Virginia, Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials), and on Westlaw (Mason Law and on-site users only). Current Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia are also available at Virginia’s Judicial System.
      • Virginia Rules Annotated, Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials) and 102 (Virginia Quick Reference Materials).

      Legislative Materials:

      Code of Virginia

      • Code of Virginia 1950
        • Code of Virginia (Annotated), Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials) and 102 (Virginia Quick Reference Materials). Also available on Lexis (Mason Law and on-site users only).
        • West's Annotated Code of Virginia, Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials). Also available on Westlaw (Mason Law and on-site users only).
        • Code of Virginia Online Database. Available at Virginia's Legislative Information System. This version of the Code of Virginia is unannotated.
      • Codes of Virginia 1919, 1887, 1849, and 1819, and Interim Codes, Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials) and Special Collections. Superseded editions are also available on HeinOnline (Mason Law and on-site users only). The Code of Virginia is also retained in microfiche format from 1849 to present.

      Session Laws

      Legislative Documents

      Administrative Materials:

      Local Government Materials:

      Charters

      • Charters. Charters (unofficial) of counties, cities, and towns in Virginia are available on the Virginia Law Portal.

      Municipal Codes

      • Arlington County Code. Available from the County Board. 
      • Other Municipal Codes. Codes of many other Virginia localities are available on Lexis (Mason Law users only) and Municode. 

        Secondary Sources:

        Research Guides

        Legal Encyclopedia

        • Michie's Jurisprudence of Virginia and West Virginia, Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials) and 102 (Virginia Quick Reference Materials). Michie's Jurisprudence is the legal encyclopedia for Virginia. It includes an Index, Table of Cases, and other supplementary materials at the end of the set, as well as an outline at the beginning of each volume. The text analyzes and explains the law on a specific topic, and footnotes refer to specific cases, statutes, and other legal resources. Michie’s Jurisprudence is also available on Lexis (Mason Law users only).

        Legal Newspaper

        Law Reviews

        Virginia law reviews are available online on HeinOnline (Mason and on-site users only), Lexis (Mason Law and on-site users only), and Westlaw (Mason Law and on-site users only). The law reviews listed below are also available in print in the law library.

        Practice Materials:

        Virginia Procedure and Practice

        Continuing Legal Education (CLE)

        • Virginia CLE, Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials) and RESERVE. Materials from Virginia CLE courses on topics such as Community Associations, Employment, Family Law, Estate Planning, Landlord-Tenant, Motor Vehicle Accidents, and many other practice areas. Often includes forms. Please use the catalog to find relevant CLEs. Search in the author field for “Virginia CLE” or “Virginia Law Foundation Committee on Continuing Legal Education”.

        Forms

        Jury Instructions

        Law Directories

        • Martindale-Hubbell. Search for lawyers, law firms, and organizations.
        • Virginia Listings - LexisNexis Law Directory. Available on Lexis (Mason Law users only).
        • West Legal Directory: Virginia. Available on Westlaw (Mason Law users only).

        Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility

        • Rules of Professional Conduct. The text of the Rules of Professional Conduct is in Volume 11, Part 6, Section II of the Code of Virginia, Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials) and 101 (Virginia Quick Reference Materials). The current text is also available from the Virginia State Bar.
        • Legal Ethics Opinions. Contained in the Code of Virginia, Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials) and 101 (Virginia Quick Reference Materials). Also available at Virginia Legal Ethics Opinions List back to 1980, Lexis back to 1980 (Mason Law users only), ABA/BNA-Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct back to 1986 (Mason Law and on-site users only), and Westlaw back to 1999 (Mason Law and on-site users only).
        • Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee Opinions. Available on Westlaw (Mason Law and on-site users only), Lexis (Mason Law users only), and Virginia’s Judicial System. 
        • Lawyer Advertising Opinions. Contained in the Code of Virginia, Ranges 228-299 (Virginia Materials) and 101 (Virginia Quick Reference Materials). Also available at Lawyer Advertising Opinions.
        • Unauthorized Practice of Law Opinions. Contained in the Code of Virginia, Ranges 228-229 (Virginia Materials) and 101 (Virginia Quick Reference Materials). Also available at UPL Opinions On-Line.

        Virginia History:

        • Ephemera. Broadside Collection includes printed ephemera like broadsides, wills, political statements, and theatre bills.
        • Historical Books. Rare Book Digital Collection includes over 50,000 titles, including early Virginia imprints.
        • Historical Newspapers. Virginia Chronicle contains digitized historical Virginia newspapers.
        • Manuscripts and Archival Collections. 
          • Virginia Company Archives (Mason users only) includes collection of the Ferrar Papers (1590-1790) and Records of the Virginia Company of London (1606-1624), documenting the founding and economic development of Virginia, the settlement of North America from Jamestown to the Bermudas, trade between Britain and America, the ethnic and gender composition of early Virginia, and tensions among the colonists and of early relations with Native Americans.
          • Virginia Heritage contains finding aids for information about manuscripts and archival collections across various Virginia repositories.
        • Other Digital Collections. The Library of Virginia's digital collections cover topics like Virginia History and Culture; Biographical and Genealogical; Maps and Architecture; County and City Research; Historic Virginia Government; and Land Office Patents & Grants.

        Last edited December 8, 2015