§ 8.01-670.2.Appeal of interlocutory orders and decrees; immunity.

Ordinarily, a party has to wait for a final judgment before appealing. Section 8.01-670.2 creates an exception for immunity rulings: when a circuit court, before trial begins, enters an order in a pending civil action granting or denying a plea of sovereign, absolute, or qualified immunity that, if granted, would immunize the movant from having to take part in the proceeding, that order becomes eligible for immediate appellate review. Any person aggrieved by it may file a petition for review with the Supreme Court within 15 days of the order’s entry, following the procedures in § 8.01-626.

Filing that petition does not automatically freeze the circuit court case. Proceedings stay put only if the circuit court finds, or the Supreme Court orders, a stay, and that requires a finding either that the petition could resolve the entire civil action or that some other good cause — apart from the petition or appeal itself — justifies pausing the case.

Skipping interlocutory review carries no penalty of its own. A party who does not seek it under this section keeps the right to raise the immunity issue later on appeal from a final order. Even a Supreme Court order denying interlocutory review does not close that door, unless the order denying review specifically says it does.