Appeals of Trial Court Rulings
The trial court’s final decision may not really be final. Sometimes attorneys or judges or juries make mistakes. There are very short time periods within which to complain about a mistake made at trial, so it is imperative to raise the questions regarding a mistake committed as soon as possible. An appeal is more than just a “do over” or another opportunity for the losing party to try to get a different result. The appeal must show that somehow a rule of law was not followed during the trial. An appeal is not an opportunity to get additional evidence admitted to support the desired result; the evidence to be considered on appeal is only that evidence admitted at the trial. The appellate court will compare the evidence presented at trial to the rules of law applicable to the issue in question to determine if a legal error was made.
An appellate lawyer's skills are different from those of a trial lawyer. Where good trial lawyers are adept at ferreting out information through discovery, examination of witnesses, and making persuasive oral presentations in court, the appellate lawyer must be talented in persuasive writing. On appeal, the focus shifts from developing facts to mastering the record, researching legal principles, understanding subtle distinctions and emerging legal trends, exploring creative analogies and guiding policy considerations that shape the law, and then assembling everything in a concise, persuasively written brief.
The appellate lawyer’s skills are useful, not only in seeking an appeal to the appellate courts, but also in assisting the trial attorney during the actual trial phase of the case. Often an appellate attorney can see issues through the eyes of the appellate court and act during the trial phase to preserve an issue for the best presentation to the appellate court. An appellate attorney can also handle legal issues at the trial level in preparation for presentation to the appellate court, providing a streamlining of the presentation and freeing the trial attorney to concentrate on factual issues as opposed to researching the law.