Christopher G. Hill | Construction Law Musings
As a Virginia construction attorney and solo practitioner, I represent many clients that have construction claims that cover the spectrum from $20,000 (and possibly less) to somewhere in the millions. Back in 2011, the Virginia General Assembly updated the General District Court (the court “not of record” that takes less time and costs less in litigation costs) jurisdictional limit from $15,000 to $25,000. Back then, this was a welcome change and also seemed like enough. These days, between inflation and the general cost of living, I run into a number of cases that are in the $30,000 to $40,000 range that back in 2015 or so may have been in the $20,000 range. Such cases always started a debate between lawyer and construction client as to whether it was worth the additional fees and litigation costs to chase the extra $5,000 to $10,000 in Circuit Court or simply forgo it and use the General District Courts knowing that the limit on recovery would be capped at the $25,000. Such a “Hobson’s Choice” should not have been required, but the rules were the rules.
Luckily, the General Assembly actually did something helpful for the legal system and for both access to justice generally and for the ability to efficiently prosecute legitimate claims that were there at the margins. As of July 1, 2025, the new jurisdictional limit for claims in General District Court will be $50,000. Senate Bill 1291 passed and was signed by Governor Youngkin so there is come cause to celebrate for those subcontractors and general contractors that have legitimate and larger claims that previously would have been subject to that marginal gain discussion I describer previously in this post. This is a general limit increase for all claims where before the $50,000 limit had only been increased for personal injury claims.
While you should always discuss any construction claim with an experienced Virginia construction attorney, and while there will still be those claims at the margins, this change is a good one that should be celebrated by construction pros here in the Commonwealth.
When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes – please call Advise & Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email experts@adviseandconsult.net.