A. A party shall not be allowed to suffer a nonsuit as to any cause of action or claim, or any other party to the proceeding, unless he does so before a motion to strike the evidence has been sustained or before the jury retires from the bar or before the action has been submitted to the court for decision. After a nonsuit no new proceeding on the same cause of action or against the same party shall be had in any court other than that in which the nonsuit was taken, unless that court is without jurisdiction, or not a proper venue, or other good cause is shown for proceeding in another court, or when such new proceeding is instituted in a federal court. If after a nonsuit an improper venue is chosen, the court shall not dismiss the matter but shall transfer it to the proper venue upon motion of any party.
B. Only one nonsuit may be taken to a cause of action or against the same party to the proceeding, as a matter of right, although the court may allow additional nonsuits upon reasonable notice to counsel of record for all defendants and upon a reasonable attempt to notify any party not represented by counsel, or counsel may stipulate to additional nonsuits. The court, in the event additional nonsuits are allowed, may assess costs and reasonable attorney fees against the nonsuiting party. When suffering a nonsuit, a party shall inform the court if the cause of action has been previously nonsuited. Any order effecting a subsequent nonsuit shall reflect all prior nonsuits and shall include language that reflects the date of any previous nonsuit together with the court in which any previous nonsuit was taken.
C. If notice to take a nonsuit of right is given to the opposing party within seven days of trial or during trial, the court in its discretion may assess against the nonsuiting party reasonable witness fees and travel costs of expert witnesses scheduled to appear at trial, which are actually incurred by the opposing party, solely by reason of the failure to give notice at least seven days prior to trial. The court shall have the authority to determine the reasonableness of expert witness fees and travel costs. Invoices, receipts, or confirmation of payment shall be admissible to prove reasonableness without the need to offer testimony to support the authenticity or reasonableness of such documents, and may, in the court's discretion, satisfy the reasonableness requirement under this subsection. Nothing herein shall preclude any party from offering additional evidence or testimony to support or rebut the reasonableness requirement.
D. A party shall not be allowed to nonsuit a cause of action, without the consent of the adverse party who has filed a counterclaim, cross claim or third-party claim which arises out of the same transaction or occurrence as the claim of the party desiring to nonsuit unless the counterclaim, cross claim or third-party claim can remain pending for independent adjudication by the court.
E. A voluntary nonsuit taken pursuant to this section is subject to the tolling provisions of subdivision E 3 of § 8.01-229.
F. Upon the timely perfection of an appeal from a judgment of a general district court, pursuant to § 16.1-106, a party may suffer a nonsuit as otherwise set forth in this section, and such nonsuit shall annul the judgment of the general district court.
Code 1950, §§ 8-220, 8-244; 1954, cc. 333, 611; 1977, c. 617; 1983, c. 404; 1991, c. 19; 2001, c. 825; 2004, c. 362; 2007, cc. 179, 367; 2013, cc. 274, 366; 2014, c. 86; 2022, c. 206.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
315
cases (
44 in the last 5 years), 1978–2026 · leading case:
Janvier v. Arminio, 634 S.E.2d 754 (Va. 2006).
Janvier v. Arminio, 634 S.E.2d 754 (Va. 2006).
· cites it 46× “Although several familiar statutes and rules of this Court are implicated by the procedural facts of the case that have been addressed by this Court in a number of our prior decisions, we have not addressed previously the specific issue presented here with regard to the…”
McManama v. Plunk, 458 S.E.2d 759 (Va. 1995).
· cites it 38× “Therefore, the trial court erred in ruling that the nonsuit order had "the limited effect of being a dismissal order without determining the merits" and that Code § 8.”
Clark v. Clark, 398 S.E.2d 82 (Va. Ct. App. 1990).
· cites it 31× “She argues that the venue restrictions of Code § 8.01-380 and the Swiss nonsuit statute both require that when a cause is nonsuited, further proceedings by that party *290 must be filed and conducted in the same court.”
Bremer v. Doctor's Bldg. P'ship, 465 S.E.2d 787 (Va. 1996).
· cites it 32× “Bremer filed an appeal asserting that the trial court’s nonsuit order violated the provisions of Code § 8.01-380 because his statutory plea was pending and because the case had been submitted for decision.”
Wilby v. Gostel, 578 S.E.2d 796 (Va. 2003).
· cites it 12× “Code § 8.01-380, which governs the right of a plaintiff to take a voluntary nonsuit, provides, in pertinent part, that: A party shall not be allowed to suffer a nonsuit as to any cause of action or claim, or any other party to the proceeding, unless he has done so before a…”
James Ex Rel. Duncan v. James, 562 S.E.2d 133 (Va. 2002).
· cites it 8× “At the time the nonsuit orders were entered, Code § 8.01-380 provided as follows: A. A party shall not be allowed to suffer a nonsuit as to any cause of action or claim, or any other party to the proceeding, unless he does so before a motion to strike the evidence has been…”
Dalloul v. Agbey, 499 S.E.2d 279 (Va. 1998).
· cites it 16× “About four months later, Agbey requested the trial court to enter an order of nonsuit pursuant to Code § 8.01-380. Although the defendants requested that the court limit the scope of the nonsuit to Counts I and H, the court entered an order which did not contain such a…”
Collins v. Shepherd, 649 S.E.2d 672 (Va. 2007).
· cites it 7× “Collins contends that the local rule is invalid because it abridged his substantive right to proceed with his lawsuit, noting that even after failing to serve Shepherd with process within one year of filing his civil action, he retained the right to take a nonsuit under Code §…”
Sheets v. Castle, 559 S.E.2d 616 (Va. 2002).
· cites it 6× “At the hearing, Castle moved for a voluntary nonsuit pursuant to Code § 8.01-380. Sheets objected to the entry of a nonsuit, arguing that their claims for costs and attorney’s fees were counter-claims arising out of the contract, which prevented the plaintiff from suffering a…”
Transcontinental Ins. v. RBMW, Inc., 551 S.E.2d 313 (Va. 2001).
· cites it 6× “Specifically, the trial court noted that RBMW’s intentional or negligent misrepresentation count against Robins had not been presented to the trial court for decision and therefore, under *510 Code § 8.01-380, the granting of a nonsuit was appropriate.”
Waterman v. Halverson, 540 S.E.2d 867 (Va. 2001).
· cites it 6× “Rule 3:3(c) “forbade entry of any judgment against [the defendant] in [the original] action, and the action ended with entry of the order allowing a nonsuit pursuant to Code § 8.”
— Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-380(6) — 1 case
— Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-380(A) — 79 cases
McManama v. Plunk, 458 S.E.2d 759 (Va. 1995).
“Therefore, the trial court erred in ruling that the nonsuit order had "the limited effect of being a dismissal order without determining the merits" and that Code § 8.”
Transcontinental Ins. v. RBMW, Inc., 551 S.E.2d 313 (Va. 2001).
“Specifically, the trial court noted that RBMW’s intentional or negligent misrepresentation count against Robins had not been presented to the trial court for decision and therefore, under *510 Code § 8.01-380, the granting of a nonsuit was appropriate.”
Wilby v. Gostel, 578 S.E.2d 796 (Va. 2003).
“Code § 8.01-380, which governs the right of a plaintiff to take a voluntary nonsuit, provides, in pertinent part, that: A party shall not be allowed to suffer a nonsuit as to any cause of action or claim, or any other party to the proceeding, unless he has done so before a…”
Dalloul v. Agbey, 499 S.E.2d 279 (Va. 1998).
“About four months later, Agbey requested the trial court to enter an order of nonsuit pursuant to Code § 8.01-380. Although the defendants requested that the court limit the scope of the nonsuit to Counts I and H, the court entered an order which did not contain such a…”
— Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-380(B) — 45 cases
Janvier v. Arminio, 634 S.E.2d 754 (Va. 2006).
“Although several familiar statutes and rules of this Court are implicated by the procedural facts of the case that have been addressed by this Court in a number of our prior decisions, we have not addressed previously the specific issue presented here with regard to the…”
McManama v. Plunk, 458 S.E.2d 759 (Va. 1995).
“Therefore, the trial court erred in ruling that the nonsuit order had "the limited effect of being a dismissal order without determining the merits" and that Code § 8.”
Sheets v. Castle, 559 S.E.2d 616 (Va. 2002).
“At the hearing, Castle moved for a voluntary nonsuit pursuant to Code § 8.01-380. Sheets objected to the entry of a nonsuit, arguing that their claims for costs and attorney’s fees were counter-claims arising out of the contract, which prevented the plaintiff from suffering a…”
— Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-380(C) — 23 cases
Bremer v. Doctor's Bldg. P'ship, 465 S.E.2d 787 (Va. 1996).
“Bremer filed an appeal asserting that the trial court’s nonsuit order violated the provisions of Code § 8.01-380 because his statutory plea was pending and because the case had been submitted for decision.”
— Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-380(D) — 11 cases
— Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-380(E) — 1 case
— Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-380(F) — 1 case
— Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-380(c) — 1 case
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.