Criminal and Civil Appeals

When is a case “over”?

You’ve been to court, and now there is a judgment or verdict that has not gone in your favor. Is your battle over, or has it just begun?

When you don’t get the outcome you want, you have the right to appeal. In many cases, it is only through an appeal that someone finds the victory that they truly deserve. Judges and juries often get things wrong. It’s why there is an appeals process and why everyone has the right to seek an appeal from an unfavorable verdict or judgment.

The appeals process.

If you receive an unfavorable outcome, it is essential to preserve your right to appeal by filing a notice of appeal. There are strict time limits depending on the court or venue in which the unfavorable outcome occurs which dictate when this must be done. Your right to appeal depends on this notice being filed within the applicable time limit.

In some matters it is possible to seek emergency relief while an appeal is pending. In criminal cases, it is sometimes possible to keep a client from being sent to jail or prison while the appeal is decided. In civil cases, it may be possible to preserve a business or other valuable property at risk from a bad outcome until an appeal is determined. In either situation, it is essential to take immediate steps to preserve your rights, and only a court can give you this kind of emergency, temporary relief.

From that point, you face another time limit in which to “perfect” your appeal. Appeals are “perfected” when the appellant (the person appealing the decision) prepares and files the appellate record and an appellate brief.

The appellate record consists of all of the records of the proceedings that led to the unfavorable outcome, and can include trial or hearing transcripts, motions made before or during a trial, and evidence in documentary, video, audio or even physical form that were involved in the proceeding that resulted in the unfavorable outcome.

The appellate brief is the written arguments on your behalf that are prepared and submitted to the court, usually in the form of a small booklet.

Once your opponent has had an opportunity to submit their own written arguments, you get an opportunity to reply, in writing, to the court.

Once all of these written arguments and records are received by the appellate court, a date will be scheduled for an oral argument where you have the opportunity to make your best case against the other side and answer any questions the appellate court may have.