VIRGINIA BAR EXAM DISTINCTIONS — ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET
Condensed companion to the Virginia Bar Exam Distinctions long outline.
1. EXAM FORMAT — NON-UBE
Virginia administers its OWN exam, not the UBE · two days: a state-essay/short-answer day testing Virginia law across many subjects, plus the MBE · no MEE/MPT; Virginia does not accept transferred UBE scores · Virginia-specific law is DIRECTLY TESTED—on the essay day WRITE "Under Virginia law…" and apply Virginia doctrine first, noting the national rule only where helpful.
2. CIVIL PROCEDURE (heavily tested)
Circuit Court (general jurisdiction) / General District Court (smaller civil + misdemeanors) · pleadings: Complaint, Answer, demurrer (legal sufficiency), plea, special plea, motion craving oyer (production of a referenced document) · ONE NONSUIT AS OF RIGHT (§8.01-380)—dismiss without prejudice before submission to court/jury, refile within ~6 months (the most heavily tested Virginia procedure topic) · SOLs: PI 2 yrs, property damage/written contract 5 yrs, oral contract 3 yrs, defamation 1 yr · 7-person civil jury · appeal of right to the Court of Appeals (2022 reform).
3. EVIDENCE (Virginia Rules)
Virginia Rules of Evidence (effective 2012) codify Virginia common law rather than copying the FRE—they diverge in several respects, and Virginia cases remain authoritative · a witness's prior inconsistent statement is often admissible for impeachment only, not as substantive evidence (contrast FRE 801(d)(1)(A)) · Virginia applies its own expert-testimony standards and a civil-case reliability test (NOT the full federal Daubert framework), limiting opinion on ultimate issues · physician-patient and other Virginia privileges · on the essay day apply the Virginia Rules and Virginia cases, not the FRE.
4. FAMILY LAW
Fault grounds (adultery, cruelty, desertion/abandonment, felony conviction) + no-fault (living separate and apart without interruption 1 year, or 6 months with a separation agreement and no minor children) (§20-91) · ADULTERY can BAR a spouse's claim for spousal support and remains criminal in form—do not assume no-fault is automatic · equitable distribution—classify property as marital, separate, or hybrid and apply statutory factors (§20-107.3) · no common-law marriage.
5. WILLS / TRUSTS / ESTATES
Attested will = signature + 2 competent witnesses signing in the testator's presence (§64.2-403) · HOLOGRAPHIC WILLS VALID if wholly in the testator's handwriting and signed (§64.2-403(B)), proved by 2 disinterested handwriting witnesses—partial typing defeats the exception (though harmless error may save it) · harmless-error / substantial-compliance dispensing power on clear-and-convincing proof of intent (§64.2-404) · augmented-estate sliding-scale elective share rising with marriage length (§64.2-308.1) · intestacy ("course of descents," §64.2-200)—spouse takes the entire estate, or one-third (with two-thirds to descendants) if the decedent left descendants who are not also the spouse's · statutory family/exempt-property/homestead allowances with priority over claims.
6. REAL PROPERTY
NOTICE recording act (§55.1-407, formerly §55-96)—a subsequent bona fide purchaser for value without notice of a prior unrecorded interest prevails even without recording first · adverse possession 15 years (§8.01-236)—actual, hostile, exclusive, visible/notorious, continuous, under claim of right · DEED OF TRUST conveying the property to a trustee, with nonjudicial trustee's-sale foreclosure under the power of sale on default following statutory notice (§55.1-320); generally no statutory post-sale right of redemption after a properly conducted sale—do not import judicial-foreclosure or redemption assumptions from other states.
7. TORTS — PURE CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE
PURE CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE — any plaintiff fault (even 1%) that is a proximate cause of the injury is a COMPLETE BAR to recovery (Virginia is one of only a few such states); this is the single most important Virginia tort distinction—on every negligence essay check for plaintiff fault first · escapes from the bar: last clear chance (defendant had the final opportunity to avoid the harm after the plaintiff's peril became apparent), and contributory negligence is no defense to willful/wanton conduct · joint-and-several liability RETAINED for concurrent tortfeasors causing an indivisible injury, with contribution among them (§8.01-34) · med-mal total-damages CAP (§8.01-581.15, increasing annually under the statute) · generally NO common-law dram-shop liability—a tavern is not li