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Appeal Timeline

If you believe that the trial court’s decision in your case was incorrect or faulty, you have a right to appeal it. But before you start, understand that your appeal is not a new trial. Rather, an appeal is an investigation to see if the trial court made any legal errors in handing its decision. The appeals court may base their review only on the materials and the briefs containing factual issues and evidence used in the trial hearing, and nothing else. If errors are indeed found, the appeals court may overturn the decision and you get a new trial.

Appeal Timeline

Essentially, your notice of appeal should be filed no later than thirty days from the date of the trial court’s decision and must be filed within that time period so it would not be defaulted. If you or your lawyer were not able to pass your notice within thirty days, then, you must state in your notice the reasons that you were late in doing so.

Filing your notice of appeal requires a lot of preparation so don’t waste time. As soon as the trial court’s decision has been passed down and it does not go your way, consult your lawyer at once and start moving to prepare for your appeal. Don’t waste any more time, especially if you feel that justice was not served in your trial. Remember that the appeals court would generally reverse a trial court decision only for an error of law, so make sure to base your appeal on this premise. If some of these errors of law are simply small and harmless mistakes that do not twist or hinder the court from carrying out the decision, then the appeals court may simply move to correct those mistakes, but uphold the trial court’s judgment. However, if there are major errors of law like admitting improper evidence, which may have hampered how the decision was made, then your appeal may result favorably.

Below are some of the things you need to prepare so you can file your notice of appeal within the allotted thirty days.

Get a Lawyer Who is Adept in Appeal Proceedings

In appeal court proceedings only lawyers are allowed to speak. And because an appeal is not a trial, there is no need for the standard proceedings that usually occur in a hearing. Your lawyer knows that your appeal has a deadline and would most likely work to beat it. He or she also knows what the proper channels and procedures are and what needs to be accomplished for applying your appeal.

Get Help in Making Your Notice of Appeal

You can actually do this on your own. However, in the interest of expediency and efficiency, ask for your lawyer’s assistance. He or she would also know what is required in making a proper notice of appeal. Your lawyer also knows at which appropriate appeals court to file your appeal notice. Be conscious of the deadline for filing your notice of appeal. If you fail to file a timely notice of appeal, you might have problems during your appeal proceedings — that is, if it gets there. Appeals courts are very strict when it comes to timely appeal filing and will make a note of this transgression if it reaches the courts. The appeals court may dismiss any appeals that are not filed in a timely manner, so be sure you and your lawyer file in time. Always be conscious of the time; you’ve only got thirty days (and counting).

Have Your Lawyer Prepare Your Trial Briefs in Advance

Once you’ve filed your appeal, you may then expect a hearing date soon, and the schedule for filing the written trial briefs. This may be within the next few weeks, following the filing of your notice of appeal. This would be a perfect time to prepare your trial briefs.

Appeals courts work like investigative units, but limit themselves only to the factual issues, evidence, and legal statutes at hand. They will only look at the briefs from the trial, and nothing else. An appeals court then reviews a trial court’s decision and whether there was enough evidence and factual issues used as bases for the trial court to arrive at that decision. Otherwise, the appeals court is not obligated to modify or reverse the trial court’s decision.

The appeals court does not promise to modify or reverse the trial court’s decision. It will review your case and investigate whether there was enough evidence and factual issues that were used as bases for that decision. It may modify or correct certain parts of the decision of the trial court, or reverse it in its entirety. If the appeals court finds no fault in the trial court’s decision, it is not compelled to nitpick or find fault that will lead it to modify or reverse the trial court’s decision. Rather, it may even uphold such a decision, if the decision based on the factual issues was not remiss in its passing. Thus, it is important that you base your appeal on errors of law, so you don’t have to worry about a denied appeal.

Time is, literally, of the essence, when planning your appeal. So, act fast and with decisive speed. Your lawyer’s role in your appeal preparation is important. But there is one important factor that even with a great lawyer may not break your case: justifiable cause. If you do not have any justifiable cause for an appeal, it might not be a good idea to go ahead with your appeal.