When, Where, and, Most Importantly, Why

When You Can Appeal:

In most civil and criminal cases, an appeal must be filed within 45 days of the entry of the final order. If you want to appeal a legal decision made in your case before a final order is issued, you can file a motion for leave to appeal.

Municipal court appeals must be filed within 20 days (including weekends and holidays) from the date you were found guilty.

Where Do You Appeal:

Lawyers can use the online eCourts filing system to file the appropriate forms and documents for an appeal.

Why You Should Appeal (and Why You Should Hire A Lawyer):

The 5th, 6th, and 14th Amendments protect every person’s right to due process, which is your right to a fair trial, regardless of race, ethnicity, guilt, or innocence. The judge is the arbiter of the law and therefore the medium through which your right to a fair trial is secured. If mistakes of law are made that affect your right to a fair trial, it is not just a minor annoyance; it is a constitutional and civil rights issue.

The next step after filing a Notice of Appeal is writing and filing a legal brief summarizing when and how the trial judge erred. It requires extensive legal research, understanding, and analysis of various applicable statutes, legal procedures, and law as determined by the outcomes of previous cases, also called legal precedent. Few people have the knowledge or resources available to build a convincing argument, but hiring a lawyer significantly improves your chances of winning an appeal because lawyers have these resources and are trained to do this sort of analysis.