Case 1:16-cv-00540-AJT-MSN Document 37 Filed 07/28/17 Page 11 of 20 PageID# 3267 • Count VIII: State Law Defamation (against Defendants Rose, Stephens, Hornberger, and Devlin) A. Whether Any of Plaintiff’s Claims Are Barred By Res Judicata In considering the preclusive effect of a state court’s dismissal with prejudice, federal courts apply applicable state law rules. See 28 U.S.C. § 1738 (State judicial proceedings “shall have the same full faith and credit in every court within the United States . . . as they have by law or usage in the courts of such State . . . from which they are taken.”); see also Marrese v. Am. Acad. of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 470 U.S. 373, 380 (1985) (“It has long been established that § 1738 does not allow federal courts to employ their own rules of res judicata in determining the effect of state judgments.”) (quoting Kremer v. Chem. Constr. Corp., 456 U.S. 461, 481-82 (1982)). Accordingly, this Court applies Virginia state law in considering Defendants’ res judicata defense. 1. Whether Supreme Court of Virginia Rule 1:6 Governs These Proceedings The res judicata effect of a Virginia state court dismissal is set forth in Rule 1:6 of the Rule of the Supreme Court of Virginia, 5 titled “Res Judicata Claim Preclusion.” Va. Sup. Ct. R. 1:6 states: A party whose claim for relief arising from identified conduct, a transaction, or an occurrence, is decided on the merits by a final judgment, shall be forever barred from prosecuting any second or subsequent civil action against the same opposing party or parties on any claim or cause of action that arises from that same conduct, transaction, or occurrence, whether or not the legal theory or rights asserted in the second and subsequent action were raised in the prior lawsuit, and regardless of the legal elements or the evidence upon which any claim in the prior proceeding depended, or the particular remedies sought. A claim for relief pursuant to this 5 The Virginia Code authorizes the Virginia Supreme Court to promulgate rules of practice. Va. Code § 8.01-581.11 (“The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia shall promulgate all necessary rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this chapter.”). Part One of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia is titled “General Rules Applicable to All Proceedings.” 11