For the debut public preview of Virginia Verdicts, Roger Skalbeck, Associate Dean at Richmond School of Law Library, demonstrated the project during a session of the Spring 2026 Meeting of the Virginia Association of Law Libraries (VALL). VALL is a regional chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries. Members come from law schools, law firms, court libraries and other organizations across the Commonwealth of Virginia. This post provides a preview of content examples available at launch, with explanations and direct links.
At launch, we have just over 1,000 records for final decisions from the Supreme Court of Virginia. As noted in our site explanation, records in our collection can include access to: decisions, citations, briefs, records, oral arguments and analysis from secondary sources. A central project goal is to enhance records with these elements. This process takes time and effort, so it will grow somewhat slowly but also deliberately. At launch, a limited number of records include our planned annotation elements. Some cases may never have more than a citation and link to a final decision.
Following are examples of each element, with links to examples available at launch, showing these features in the site’s context.
Permanent Links and Bluebook-Friendly Cites
For each record for a final court decision, there is a link to a full-text version of the case, often available to download as a PDF. The overwhelming majority of links are from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener collection. More recent case links point to those hosted directly within the official, permanent collection the court maintains.
A citation statement is included as part of the CourtListener database, so we provide this information when it’s available. These citations are derived from a mix of sources, providing references to official as well as proprietary publications. We decided that these details are relevant to scholars and attorneys. We have not edited them, and court rules will guide attorneys on when and how to use parallel citations.
- Braxton v. Flippo, 33 S.E.2d 757, 183 Va. 839, 1945 Va. LEXIS 233 (1945).
- Rates v. Electric, 414 S.E.2d 834, 243 Va. 320, 1992 Va. LEXIS 22, 8 Va. Law Rep. 2238 (1992).
- Loch Levan Land v. Board of Supervisors, 831 S.E.2d 690 (2019).
In the list above, keen observers will note that the citation for the 2019 Loch Levan case is incomplete. The parenthetical should reflect that this is a Virginia case. Also, for numerous citations in the platform, party names are not abbreviated according to Table 6 guidelines. In addition, parallel citations should list provide regional reporter publications before a state reporter, according to guidance rom Bluebook Rule 10.3.1(a). For these reasons, we describe our chosen citations as “Bluebook-friendly” without promising that they conform to demands of every editor or judge.
Access to court filings: briefs AND records
As of April 2026, the Richmond School of Law Library has started a long-term project to host court briefs and records on a stable, freely-accessible platform. Our focus is on adding materials not already available online. Washington and Lee School of Law already has a Virginia Supreme Court Records collection that covers 1923 to 2005. We will begin our work to add materials from more recent years.
Documents are hosted on a platform from JSTOR. This is a name many people recognize for their digital journal collections. As their website explains it, JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization helping the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways. At the University of Richmond, The Boatwright Memorial Library uses JSTOR to host multiple collections. The Supreme Court of Virginia Records and Briefs are one of these collections.
- Cosby v. Clem, 773 S.E.2d 159, 290 Va. 1, 2015 Va. LEXIS 85 (2015).
- Cain v. Lee, 772 S.E.2d 894, 290 Va. 129 (2015).
Finally, as seen in the two examples here, the materials include briefs and records. The records are a feature specific to practice in Virginia, which are found in an appendix to the case. This information is typically not on Lexis or Westlaw.
Audio recordings from oral arguments
The Supreme Court of Virginia provides recordings of oral arguments on their website for the last five years. For the Virginia Verdicts project, we’ve added these audio files that you can play directly from our site or download in a way identical to that from the court itself.
These oral arguments are not available on Lexis or Westlaw. Also, the court does not publish argument transcripts or identify attorneys or justices by name.
At the federal level the Oyez project provides audio and impressive features such as simultaneous transcription and integration with final case outcomes. For instance, you can listen to and read along with debates about the meaning of parody in “Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.” Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/1993/92-1292. Accessed 30 Apr. 2026.
- White v. Llewellyn, 857 S.E.2d 388, 299 Va. 658 (2021).
- The Daily Press v. Commonwealth, 878 S.E.2d 390, 301 Va. 384 (2022).
Links to commentary from free sources
For many lawyers and law students, a great way to understand the law is to find sources that explain it. Law review articles often provide detailed annotations and analysis that go beyond the language of a specific case or controversy. These secondary sources are only persuasive, which means that they can explain the law but judges and lawyers don’t have to follow them.
We have begun to find and add secondary sources, typically from law review articles, that annotate or explain cases. We will not add commercial sources, and this service can never compete with robust annotations on services like Westlaw or Lexis. However, we hope that contextual links will save time and connect researchers with a broader range of sources.
- Hinderliter v. Humphries, 297 S.E.2d 684, 224 Va. 439, 1982 Va. LEXIS 313 (1982).
- Colas v. Tyree, 882 S.E.2d 625, 302 Va. 17 (2023).
- Coxcom, LLC v. Fairfax County, 875 S.E.2d 75, 301 Va. 201 (2022).
