- Brief Guide to Virginia Geography,
Terms, and Legal System
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and Legal System, or Northern
Virginia, or click to go back to Crouch
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Law )
Virginia is one of the Southeastern United States, on the Atlantic
coast. Its entire Western border is in the Appalachian mountians, which
run from Southwest to Northeast. Approaching from the ocean, one would enter
the great port city of Norfolk, first passing its even more populous
suburb, Virginia Beach. Neighboring cities include Newport News,
Hampton, Portsmouth and Chesapeake. This area is generally called
Hampton Roads. It is also known as the Tidewater, together
with everything east of Washington and Richmond.
(Bear in mind that lawyers in Virginia typically
practice in several counties
and cities.)
Two hours West of Norfolk is Richmond, the capital. Two hours Northwest
of Richmond is Charlottesville, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Thomas Jefferson lived near there. Beyond these mountains lies the great
Shennandoah Valley, and then the Allegheny mountains and desolateWest
Virginia, a completely separate State which is not affiliated in any way
with Virginia.
Two hours North of Richmond, Washington, D.C., the U.S.'s capital, lies in an independent district between Virginia and Maryland. Northern Virginia stretches from Washington one hour West to the Blue Ridge Mountains and one hour South to Fredericksburg (halfway between Richmond and Washington). Northern Virginia includes Arlington, which is next to Washington and was home to General Robert E. Lee; burgeoning Fairfax, home of George Washington; Alexandria, Manassas, Falls Church, the counties of Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford, and Fauquier; and the towns of Vienna, Leesburg, Tysons Corner, Woodbridge, Annandale, and Middleburg, among others. Colossal Fairfax's population of over 800,000 greatly exceeds that of any other Virginia city or county or even Washington. The gargantuan rule book of its sprawling Circuit Court is eight times the size of the rule book which is sufficient to govern the state appellate courts and all the courts of most counties and cities. (And Volume II is coming soon).
One hour South of Richmond is the considerable city of Petersburg; the small cities of Hopewell and Colonial Heights are nearby. Three hours West of Richmond and Petersburg is the city of Lynchburg. Rustburg is an ill-fitting name for a tiny, attractive town near Lynchburg. The area South of Richmond and Lynchburg is called Southside Virginia. Danville and Halifax are there. (Click for more information on Danville and vicinity). West of Lynchburg, surrounded by imposing mountains, is the great industrial city of Roanoke.
Virginian Terms and Legal System
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The Commonwealth is what Virginians call their land and its government, in any context where other Americans would use the word "state."
Click for: Laws | Uniform Statutes
Lawyers: American attorneys combine the functions of barristers and solicitors. "Attorney" and "lawyer" both mean the same thing in the United States. Neither one is a title or mode of address in Virginia. One says "Mr. Crouch," not "Attorney Crouch."
Government: The units of local government are Counties and Cities. Cities are wholly independent of Counties, but most Cities (except for the largest) share the courts of a neighboring County.
Courts: The local court of record is the county's Circuit Court. Divorces and all matters involving land, wills, felonies, or serious money are heard here. Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court deals with family matters when no one has filed for divorce. "Appeal" is to the Circuit Court de novo. Many Virginia lawyers want to have a unified Family Court, which would combine the family-law functions of both these courts. Family law appeals from the Circuit Court go to the Court of Appeals by right, and then to the Supreme Court by petition. Federal courts refuse to take part in family law cases, except when enforcing treaties (such as the Hague Convention on international child abduction, implemented by the federal International Child Abduction Remedies Act). So while the U.S. Congress eagerly makes laws affecting family law cases, the state courts apply these federal laws.
Law and Equity: Courts have both legal and equitable powers, and this distinction is most formal in Circuit Court. A Circuit judge is called a Chancellor when he does equity, and most family law cases are in Chancery. Judges appoint Commissioners in Chancery to hear evidence of the grounds of divorce. In some regions the Commissioner also divides the couple's property.
Laws: Statutes and court rules are officially published in Michie's Virginia Code Annotated. Some courts have local rules but many do not. The common law of Virginia is the common law of England, both from statute and from case law, that our ancestors brought here in 1607. It also includes case law from 1607 to 1776, as judges were agents of the King, but it does not include statutes from that period, which were made by a Parliament in which Virginians were not represented. The English common law does not apply where local conditions make it irrelevant; and of course it has been much modified by Virginian case law and legislation.
Virginia's Uniform Laws, which try to be uniform between the U.S. states but are not always completely so, include: The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act, the Uniform Premarital Agreements Act, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, the Uniform Adoption and Medical Assistance Act, and the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act.
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By John Crouch, Crouch & Crouch, Arlington, Virginia
(703) 528-6700, crouch@patriot.net
