Appeals
- lawbyemilee
- Sep 1, 2022
- 2 min read
As a follow up to our litigation process post, today we're discussing appealing a final judgment of a trial court.*
Appeals
* We do not discuss interlocutory appeals in this post.
In general, a party usually files an appeal if the court issues an unfavorable decision. Whether the case is in state or federal court, a party generally may appeal a final decision of the trial court if the party believes that:
the trial court made an error in the procedures and process that led to the final decision;
newly discovered evidence would lead to a different decision;
the factual findings supporting the final decision weigh against the evidence; and/or
the court incorrectly applied the law to the facts.
When a party decides to appeal the trial court's decision, he or she will be subject to filing deadlines for filing the appeal to the proper appeals tribunal, which is usually anywhere from 30 days to 180 days after the final decision is entered by the trial court. The procedures and filing requirements vary from state to state, though most courts require the appellant (i.e., the party initiating the appeal) to file an initial brief and a reply brief to the appellee's brief, should the appellee file a brief in response to the appellant's brief.
Once the parties file their briefs, an oral argument is usually held; at the oral argument hearing, the evidence is limited to the trial court record and the parties cannot present any additional evidence. At this hearing, the parties may be questioned by the panel of judges during their arguments and will receive no further notice or information regarding which questions the judges may ask at the hearing. After the hearing, the judges normally hold a conference, make a decision, and then issue their opinion within months.
While an appellate court's decision is usually final and may not be appealed, this will depend on each state's system and the kind of case. In Utah, for example, many cases are appealed to the Utah Court of Appeals, which is the court between the lower court (i.e., the trial court) and the highest court (i.e., the Utah Supreme Court); if the appellant is not satisfied with the Utah Court of Appeals' decision, the appellant may appeal the decision once more to the Utah Supreme Court. This is a very, very general explanation of the appellate process at the state level, and it is important to keep in mind that the process can vary state by state and case by case (e.g., the process for appealing most cases involving election issues or constitutional issues must be appealed to the Utah Supreme Court, not to the Utah Court of Appeals).
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*This blog post should not be construed as legal advice on any specific facts or circumstances. The contents are intended for general information purposes only.
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