Rule 3:2.Commencement of Civil Actions.

A Virginia civil action starts the moment a complaint is filed in the clerk’s office; a statute or established practice can instead call for a pleading styled “Petition.” Once that filing happens, the action is instituted and pending against every defendant named in it. Before the clerk will issue a summons, the plaintiff has to pay the statutory writ tax and the clerk’s fees.

The complaint has to carry a caption naming the court and giving the full style of the case, including every party. A plaintiff can satisfy Code § 8.01-290’s requirements by adding an address or similar identifying data after each defendant’s name.

On content, the rule keeps things simple. A complaint only needs to ask for the specific relief the plaintiff wants — everything else is assumed. Naming a defendant in the caption is enough to make that person a party required to answer, to request proper process against them, to waive sworn answers except where the law demands one, and to authorize any relief the law allows and the complaint asks for. No formal conclusion is required. The one firm content requirement applies to money claims: any complaint asking for money damages must include an ad damnum clause stating the dollar amount sought, and a plaintiff who later needs to change that figure can seek leave to amend it under Rule 1:8.