                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

TRANSFER (§ 8.01-267.4)

A. Whenever there are pending in different circuit courts of the Commonwealth
civil actions brought by six or more plaintiffs which involve common issues of
law or fact and arise out of the same transaction, occurrence or the same series
of transactions or occurrences, any party may apply to a panel of circuit court
judges designated by the Supreme Court for an order of transfer. Upon such
application and upon making the findings required by &#xA7; 8.01-267.1, the
panel may order some or all of the actions transferred to a circuit court in
which one or more of the actions are pending for purposes of coordinated or
consolidated pretrial proceedings. The circuit court to which actions are
transferred may enter further orders as provided in &#xA7; 8.01-267.3. Any
subsequent application for further transfer shall be made to the circuit court
to which the actions were transferred. Upon completion of pretrial proceedings
and any joint hearings or trials, the circuit court may remand the actions to
the circuit courts in which they were originally filed or may retain them for
final disposition.

B. Any party who files an application for transfer shall at the same time give
notice of such application to all parties and to the clerk of each circuit court
in which an action that is the subject of the application is pending. Upon
receipt of the notice, a circuit court shall not enter any further orders under
&#xA7; 8.01-267.3 until after the panel has entered an order granting or denying
an application for transfer pursuant to subsection A.

HISTORY: 1995, c. 555.