Searching for California Appeals & Appellate Lawyers? Are you unsatisfied with the final judgment of the trial court? Do you think that your trial resulted in the wrong way? You can reverse it! If there is a way for your trial’s final decision to be reversed, you should consider an appeal. 

It is a good idea to learn about an appeal and start an appeal process with the best appellate lawyers! Keep reading to find more about the California appeals and appellate lawyers. 

What is an appeal? 

You can think of the appeal as a request to the court, which in turn a higher court reviews a decision of a lower court. When one of the parties of a trial is unsatisfied with the decision of the court, they can request for this review, and an appellate lawyer handles this situation. One can appeal to a final judgment whether the decision is made by a jury or the judge. It is important to note that this appeal process is not like a trial, and it is basically a process in which some facts and law are presented to the appeals court, after a research process by the appellate attorneys. This process cannot involve new facts or evidence, only the legal brief prepared by the appellate lawyer is examined by the appeals court. Afterward, the previous decision of the trial’s court is either affirmed or reversed by this court. 

What does the appellate court consider?

Actually, what is considered is two main things by these courts:

• Is there some mistake which is legal in the judgment of the trial court? (e.g. if the trial court’s judge mistakenly missed the appropriate law for the case or applied the wrong law for the judgment)
• If yes to the previous question, did this mistake change the direction of this final judgment?

It is also important to know what an appeal does not involve:

• There is no involvement of a new jury or a witness, no new trial.
  • One cannot present their case from the beginning to a different judge.
  • It is also not possible to present new evidence to the appellate court.

What happens after the appellate court makes the decision?

It is not that if the decision of the appellate court is not in the direction of the previous judgment, they can change the final judgment. It does not work in this way. What happens is actually the trial court hears the decision of the appeal and makes their own judgment. The only direct action of the appellate court to reverse the judgment could be at the point if the trial court had a huge mistake while applying the law in the decision of their case and this gave an outcome that is problematic for the law. There is a necessity for appellate courts to prove that kind of mistake, and to be honest, it is kind of difficult to win an appeal because of this heavy burden.

Are you looking for an appellate lawyer? Learn more about California appeals & appellate lawyers!

If you don’t, of course, you can appeal a case on your own. However, it is a good idea to have a good appellate lawyer, the best one if possible. The reason is quite clear, all paperwork during this process must be done neatly, deadlines need to be met, and all procedures of the court must be followed. So, what you need is actually a good appellate lawyer. It is also a good side of having an appellate atty is, your appeal process could be cheaper and faster by some legal processes, which you may not be able to achieve on your own.

Don’t worry about California appeals and appellate lawyers! We will give you some tips about how to find an appellate attorney in California.

Some recommendations to find California Appeals & Appellate Lawyers

There are always several ways to reach a lawyer who will help you with your appeal. 

•  You can use the lawyer referral service to get some help in this issue.
•  You may want to check “The State Bar of California” which will list you the certified specialists in appeal. These people are actually experts and certified by an organization approved by the State Bar or the State Bar of California itself. 
• You can always contact appellate law firms near you to find an appellate attorney. Appellate law firms in California will know how to help you! The best appeals and appellate lawyers in California will higher the chance that your appeal will be successful.
• You may use some other recommendations from your co-workers, friends, and acquaintances. People in business or some professionals in the related area of your case may also help you to recruit an appropriate appellate lawyer. 

Frequently asked questions: California Appeals & Appellate Lawyers

What is the rate of success of appeals?

– As mentioned before, it is kind of difficult to win an appeal. To be specific, the successful rate of appeals in California is near to 20%. 

How long does it take for an appeal to be completed?

– It actually depends on the case, but statistics showed that it could proceed up to 1.5-2 years in general. 

Why does it take so long?

– It is basically the difficulties of the process of your appeal. A huge amount of work is involved in appeal processes, both by the appellate atty and the court. Complex cases, research in that field, a lot of paperwork, preparation of effective briefs, etc. increase the time needed for an appeal to give results. 

What about the cost of an appeal?

– You need to pay for the processes included in the process of your appeal, such as filing fees, printing costs, transcripts, lawyer cost…We can say that the average range for an appeal is between 20,000$-50,000$, but of course, for small single cases, this cost will be much lower. Similarly, if your case is so complex and requires much more effort to be resolved, this cost will be higher than the average, depending on the stages of your appeal.

If I do not pay court filing fees, what will happen to my appeal?

– It is important for you not to forget these charges. You will be notified about them, and you have 15 days to pay court filing fees. If you don’t, there is a high chance for the court to dismiss your appeal. We kindly suggest you be careful about the payment deadlines. 

What to consider while choosing the appellate lawyer?

– Since an appeal process is kind of long, and clearly has a considerable cost, it is important to choose the possible best lawyer for your case. Before hiring an appellate lawyer, you may want to learn about how successful your candidate is. It is good to know how much experience a lawyer has in appeal, and you may hire that appellate lawyer if experienced any best appeals. A good candidate for your case should be dedicated to working, accessible, and good at research. It would also be perfect if you know that person has a reputation in the legal community. 

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