Local counsel
Local Counsel
For more than forty years, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (“EDVA”) has been and remains the fastest court in the country, averaging under twelve months from initial filing to trial.
The truncated case schedule and general skepticism to continuances of trial and other deadlines has made the “Rocket Docket” a popular forum for all types of high-profile litigation. The many challenges of the EDVA, including the differing demands of its separate divisions and individual judges, calls for legal counsel with significant, first-hand EDVA experience and the reputation for credibility to match. It requires skilled and accomplished trial lawyers for whom the EDVA’s pressures and procedures are routine. With seven lawyers who practice primarily in the EDVA, Kaleo Legal has this expertise in spades, gained through years of experience in all facets of the trial process here in the EDVA.
Kaleo Legal serves as local counsel in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (the “EDVA”), for firms of all sizes from around the United States, including many members of the AmLaw 100. The EDVA has three divisions: Norfolk / Newport News , Richmond , and Alexandria . The Local Rules require that any lead counsel who is not barred in the EDVA must be accompanied by a member of the EDVA bar in all appearances before the Court, and that only an attorney barred in the EDVA can sign and file pleadings. The EDVA treats local counsel and lead counsel equally, such that an attorney serving as local counsel becomes primarily liable and responsible to the Court.
Rocket Docket
The Eastern District of Virginia is famous for its speedy trial timeline, especially in civil cases. As of December 31, 2019, the EDVA ranked as the fastest federal district court in the country, resolving civil cases in an average of 6 months from the date of filing, and averaging 12.5 months from the date of filing to trial. By comparison, the District of Delaware averages 30 months from the date of filing to trial, and the Northern District of California averages 22.3 months. Final civil pretrial scheduling orders are typically entered within 90 to 120 days of the initial service (see the local rules) and are typically set for trial within 5 to 8 months of filing. Judges maintain trial dates at all costs, and continuances to a trial date are rarely granted.
As much as the entire district prides itself on its speed and efficiency, each of the three divisions in the EDVA has a unique set of processes, procedures, and local customs. Our attorneys have appeared in dozens of cases, in all three divisions, before virtually every judge on the bench. We know the rules wherever we are, and we are experts at guiding lead counsel through a case from filing to trial.
The three divisions
Norfolk/Newport News
Billy, Brian, Shep, David, Ryan, and Alex have decades of experience practicing in the Norfolk/Newport News (“Norfolk”) Division of the EDVA. Our partners are former prosecutors and experienced trial lawyers, who have tried civil cases to juries in the Norfolk and Newport News Divisions, ranging from simple breach of contract claims, to complex toxic tort cases, to extremely complex sophisticated patent and IP cases, and everything in between. We have great relationships with the Norfolk federal bench, and we serve as members of Executive Committee of the Tidewater Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and as a permanent member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference. Our attorneys present a Virginia CLE every other year with the Norfolk judges discussing best practices in federal civil litigation in the EDVA.
Richmond
Our partners have also handled dozens of cases in the Richmond Division, where Billy Poynter, Will Dickinson, David Sullivan, and Ryan Dougherty practiced for years in their former AmLaw 200 firms headquartered there. Billy, and Will, and David served as lead and local counsel in patent and other IP cases, in addition to trade secret, employment, and breach of contract cases, while Ryan defended financial services clients in class-action and single plaintiff cases. Billy, Will, David, and Ryan, Alex, and Shep continue to serve as local counsel in Richmond for many large and international law firms.
Alexandria
Kaleo Legal also serves as lead and local counsel in federal cases in Alexandria, and also partners with local attorneys (and Billy and Will’s former partners) when necessary, for the sake of efficiency. Quite often, Alexandria is the fastest of the three divisions, where the Court routinely provides only 120 days to complete all discovery, and where discovery motions are briefed, argued, and ruled on from the bench all in seven days. Quite simply put, there is no other federal court like it in the country. And we know how to navigate the rules and local practices as well as anyone.