A New Deadline Seeks to Hasten the Judicial Process

As many of our clients know, the judicial system can be quite a slow moving process. There is a new measure that is being considered which attempts to expedite the legal process. The measure calls for Circuit court judges to make a written report within 60 days stating when a decision can be expected from them. There is currently a similar measure but gives judges a 90-day deadline.

This new bill also attempts to further clarify the current law in place. The current law states that a judge must make a report on any case held under advisement for over 90 days "after final submission." The language here has caused many to interpret the law to mean that this law only applies when a judge is making a decision on the ultimate outcome of a case. The new bill makes clear that the deadline applies to "any matter, claim, motion, or issue that has been submitted to the court for a decision" and is not limited to just final decisions.

On February 27, 2014, this bill was passed in the Senate and now seeks approval from Gov. Terry McAuliffe.