NATIONWIDE APPELLATE LAW ATTORNEYS

Appellate law is the process of appealing a legal decision that a lower court has already made. This type of law is used in many areas of law, so it can be challenging to understand what is meant when lawyers talk about appeals and appellate litigation. Appellate law entails appealing the judgment of a lower court to a superior court for further examination. This lower court could be a trial court or an administrative agency. 

Appellate law involves appealing a lower court's decision to a higher court for review. Sometimes the lower court is a trial court, and sometimes it is an administrative government agency. Appellate law is a practice in which an attorney appeals to the lower court’s ruling. The type of court case will determine how the appeals court will approach the hearing. It may be allowed to fully consider the case or only review the evidence initially presented. It may also be limited to determining if the lower court acted incorrectly or made a serious mistake. In some cases, the appeals court will send the case back to the lower court with instructions. In others, such as an administrative decision appeal, the process may end with the appeals court's ruling. 

It is also important to understand that there are various levels of appeal. The court in which an appellate law attorney argues your appeal will depend on several different factors that you should discuss with your lawyer. Even when you lose a case on appeal, it may be possible to appeal to an even higher court with your appellate attorney’s assistance. 

For example, a federal court case in Colorado will be heard initially in a federal district court. If a person or entity loses that case at the district court level, that party may be able to appeal to a circuit court. The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit hears federal appeals cases from Colorado. If a party loses an appeal in the Tenth Circuit, they may be able to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. State courts also have specific routes for appeals, but depending upon the issue in the state court system, it may be possible to have the case heard by the Tenth Circuit and ultimately by the U.S. Supreme Court even if the case began as a state law case as opposed to a federal law case. 

If you have questions, an experienced appellate law attorney who understands the areas of law can speak with you today about your options. 

Appellate lawyers who represent clients at the appeal level assist clients in many ways. For example, your appellate law attorney will: 

• Provide appellate guidance at the trial court level and arbitration to preserve rights to appeal
• Review trial records in detail
• Research and analyze existing case law and court decisions, taking into account pending appeals on similar legal matters
• Frame the issues for your appeal
• Draft appellate documents and briefs for your case
• Advocate for clients in appellate courtrooms and before appellate judges; and appeal to a higher court if necessary

Different types of appellate law cases have different standards of review. The appropriate standard of review is governed by federal law. In general, lower court rulings are reviewed based on one of the following three standards of review:

• De novo review: This is the standard of review in which a court only reviews a lower court’s decision when a question of law was the primary issue in the lower court’s case. The appeals court will look at the case anew from the same position the district court did. For example, questions of standing and ripeness are reviewed de novo, as are questions about the interpretation of a statute or a contract. A question about the constitutionality of a particular law is also reviewed de novo.
• Clear error review: The appellate court will review a lower court’s ruling for clear error or will determine whether the lower court’s ruling was clearly erroneous when the primary issue was a question of fact. When an appeals court reviews for clear error, it does not look at the case anew as with a de novo review. Instead, the appellate court will be deferential to the lower court and will only overturn the ruling if it finds there was a clear error. Clear error is difficult to find.
• Abuse of discretion review: An appellate court will review a lower court’s ruling for abuse of discretion when the primary issue is one concerning the lower court’s discretion. What does this mean? In short, if there is a possibility that the lower court exercised its discretion to reach a conclusion that is not supported by the law or the facts of the case, then the appellate court may review for abuse of discretion. This type of review may be appropriate in cases where the appellant argues that the district court misapplied the law or applied the wrong law to the legal issue at stake.

If you need to file an appeal, one of the most important questions you should be asking is how much time you have to file that appeal before the clock runs out. The answer to this question can vary significantly depending on your case type and the court in which you are filing your appeal.

Whitcomb Selinsky, PC is a firm that focuses on appellate-level advocacy, and we have built a reputation for winning hard-fought appeals. Unlike the drama and flair of courtroom trials, which we also enjoy and perform well, appellate work is detail-oriented and arduous. We pride ourselves on persuasive legal writing that is succinct and on point.

We maintain top-notch research capabilities while promoting efficiency to save you time and money. Understanding the odds of winning an appeal from a trial verdict or dispositive motion are long in the best situations, our appellate team evaluates cases on their merits in advance. This approach can help our client firms or individual appellants save time and money. If your case does warrant appeal, then skilled legal writing will make the difference between winning and losing.

Our lawyers have written thousands of trial- and appellate-level briefs successfully. We can either take over your case at the level of appeal or directly perform the valuable task of scheduling and briefing your appeal. Our lawyers are knowledgeable in administrative, government procurement, constitutional, child advocacy, employment, criminal, trademark, trade secrets, and fiduciary law. However, because appellate-level advocacy frequently turns on nuanced issues of law rather than being fact-specific or tied to a few particular areas, our appellate practice is willing to discuss any appellate issue. Our attorneys are admitted in several state and federal venues and can quickly gain admission into almost any federal jurisdiction.