City of Hopewell v. Cogar

In this appeal in a declaratory judgment proceeding, the main issue is whether the trial court erred in denying plaintiffs motion for nonsuit made within a 15-day period allowed by the court for the parties to submit memoranda on defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Specifically, the question is whether, when the nonsuit motion was filed, the action had been “submitted to the court for decision,” within the meaning of Code § 8.01-380, the nonsuit statute.

In 1986, appellant City of Hopewell filed a motion for declaratory judgment against William R. Cogar and others, partners then trading…