Class Actions Will Have to Wait in Virginia

On May 19, 2026, Governor Abigail Spanberger surprisingly vetoed the class action legislation that the General Assembly passed in the recent session.  Thus, Virginia will continue to be one of only two states in the country (the other being Mississippi) without a state class action procedure.

Governor Spanberger’s veto statement explained that:

“I support the General Assembly’s goal of providing a class action mechanism that can be used by plaintiffs in Virginia courts. I offered amendments to ensure that when Virginia adopts its first-ever class action procedure, we do so in a tailored and judicious way — building on longstanding, federal precedent while providing regional circuit courts an opportunity to develop expertise. The General Assembly did not accept these amendments.”

The veto will have a significant impact on Virginia plaintiffs’ lawyers who sought to be able to bring a wide range of class actions in Virginia, including claims potentially involving consumer protection, employment, personal injury (such as those seeking medical monitoring), and property damage that might not be economically feasible to bring individually.

Companies that do significant amounts of business in the Commonwealth should still take note of the bill’s passage by the Legislature because a bill like this could be adopted in Virginia at some point in the future.

We will continue to monitor related legislation in future sessions and will provide updates.