State and Federal law allows litigants to appeal to reviewing courts the outcome of cases decided in State and Federal trial courts, and in State and Federal administrative agencies. These reviewing courts consist of State Appellate Courts, Federal Courts of Appeals, and State and Federal trial courts acting as reviewing courts for the decisions of State and Federal Administrative Agencies.
Either party, or both parties to a lawsuit can appeal all or part of a final judgment made by a State or Federal trial court or administrative agency. A decision on appeal can affirm or reverse, in whole or in part, the outcome of the decision made by the trial court or administrative agency. An appeal can also send the matter back to the trial court or administrative agency to conduct additional proceedings, and can even order the trial court or administrative agency to conduct a new trial.
Litigants are not required to use the same attorney on appeal that they used in the trial court or administrative agency. In fact, many attorneys that represent clients at the trial court level do not also represent clients in appeals. When that happens, the client needs to find an attorney that does represent clients in appeals. For clients seeking to appeal the decision of the trial court or administrative agency, this dilemma is complicated by the fact that there are very strict (and very short) time limitations within which to file an appeal before the right to appeal is lost. For clients that prevailed in the trial court or administrative agency, the need to secure attorney representation on appeal can also be very abrupt.
Appeals are not new trials, instead, they are a review of the record of the trial that occurred in the trial court or administrative agency. No witnesses testify on appeal, no new or additional evidence is presented on appeal that the trial court or administrative agency did not consider, and there are no juries on appeal. Rather, appeals consist of written researched legal arguments advocating a particular legal position and for a particular legal outcome, and sometimes an oral argument, and they are presented to a judge or to a panel of judges.
Harrison Law Offices, P.C. has represented clients in more than 30 appeals in State and Federal appellate courts and in State and Federal courts reviewing the decisions of administrative agencies. If you need representation in the appellate court to defend your judgment on appeal, or if are seeking to otherwise change the outcome of the trial court or administrative agency on appeal, Harrison Law Offices, P.C. will be happy to assist you. Remember to act fast because appellate deadlines happen fast and involve a substantial amount of work.