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All rise
The Court of Appeal in and for the State of California
Fifth Appellate District, is now in session.
Please be seated.
This video will give you a brief overview of appeals.
It will help you answer these questions:
Let's first talk about what an appeal is and what it is not:
An appeal is when someone who loses a case asks a higher court to review
the decision of the court that decided their case, the trial court.
In almost all cases, the appeals court ONLY looks at two things:
whether the judge in the trial court made a mistake about the law,
and whether this mistake affected the final decision in the case.
An appeal is NOT a new trial.
It is NOT a chance to go to court and present your case all over again
in front of a different judge.
In an appeal, you cannot present new evidence or new witnesses.
The appeals court only reviews what happened in the trial court
to decide if a legal mistake was made in the original case.
Filing an appeal does NOT stop the trial court's order.
Unless you request the trial or appeals court to postpone ("stay") the trial court's order,
you must do what the trial court order requires you to do during the appeal.
A request for a stay can be complicated
and you may still have to pay some of the money ordered by the court up front.
Ask a lawyer if one of these options would be good in your case and get help.
But remember that an appeal is NOT a way to put off having to comply with the trial court's order.
Not everyone can appeal and not every decision
made by the trial court can be appealed.
To legally appeal, you must:
Be a party to the case in the trial court
(and not just related to or affected by the trial court's decision)
Have an "appealable" order.
Not all court orders can be appealed.
You can always appeal the final judgment in a case.
The final judgment is the decision at the end that decides the whole case
and usually says what one or more parties must do
(like pay money to the other party).
You can also appeal most orders the trial court makes after the final judgment.
In general, decisions made by the trial court before final judgment
cannot be appealed right away. But, there are exceptions.
For example, in family law and probate cases you can often appeal orders
made before the final judgment right away.
Meet the deadline to file an appeal.
Different types of cases have different deadlines.
Usually, you have either 30 or 60 days from the date the court enters a judgment.
You need to research your type of case to find out what your deadline is.
And, you need to figure out the exact date from which you start counting the 30 or 60 days.
These deadlines are strict and, in general, they cannot be extended.
If your notice of appeal is late, your appeal will most likely be dismissed.
Research what deadlines apply to your case or
ask your court's self-help center or a lawyer.
Even if you meet all these requirements,
you still need to decide if an appeal is the right choice for you.
To answer this question, you should think about three things:
First: Do you have a legal basis for an appeal?
Now that you know what an appeal is,
think about why you want to appeal.
Be honest with yourself.
Do you think the judge made a mistake about the law?
Or do you think that the judge believed the other side more?
Or, is it that you just don't like the judge's decision?
You cannot appeal a court's decision just because you don't like it,
or because you think you should have won.
There has to be a "legal" basis for you to appeal.
The Court can fine people who file appeals that have no legal grounds.
For example, let's say you think the judge made a mistake
believing the other side's version of the facts, and not yours.
This would not be a basis for an appeal because,
as we said earlier, an appeal is NOT a new trial.
An appeals court is NOT going to second-guess the decision of the judge or the jury
about what facts to believe or which side's story is stronger.
So, for example, if your complaint about the trial court is that the judge
believed witness A and not witness B, an appeal would probably not be right for you.
But, let's say that you think that the judge made a mistake
when she applied the law in your case.
For example, maybe the judge did not allow you to present
important evidence that should have been allowed during your trial.
If you can prove that this was a legal mistake AND that it led you to lose your case,
then you may have a good reason to appeal.
Second: Do you have choices other than appealing?
An appeal might not be the right or easiest way
to address what you feel was wrong with the trial court's judgment or order.
Depending on your case, there may be different requests (called motions)
that you can make in the trial court to cancel or reconsider the decision
the judge or jury made. Talk to a lawyer about your options.
Either before or after you file a notice of appeal,
consider settlement or mediation.
You may be able to reach an agreement about your dispute
with the other party instead of going through the appeal process.
Some courts have mediation or settlement programs that can help you mediate your case.
Each court is different, so make sure you ask your trial court or appeals court
if they have any programs like this.
If you want to try to settle or to mediate your case,
remember that you still have to meet the filing deadline for the appeal.
Third: Do you have the time, money and ability to go through the appeal process?
Before you appeal, consider the costs and risks
of appealing the trial court's decision.
Appeals are very complicated, and can take a lot of time, effort and money.
You have to do all the paperwork correctly,
prepare or pay for a "record" of what happened in the trial court, do legal research,
write legal briefs with correct references to the "record" and to the law,
meet all deadlines, and follow all the court's rules and procedures.
The process can take months, sometimes years.
And if you choose to go ahead without a lawyer, you will not get any special treatment;
the responsibility for following all the rules and deadlines falls on you.
If you can't do what the rules require, you could automatically lose your appeal
and you will probably have to pay the appeal costs of the other side.
You need to decide if it is worth these costs and risks to appeal.
Whether to appeal is a difficult decision. Talk to a lawyer.
A lawyer can help you decide if you can or should file an appeal,
and what your other options are.
Even if you decide not to hire a lawyer,
an initial consultation with a lawyer can save you time and money in the long run
by helping you get on the right track from the start.
Make sure you talk to a lawyer who has experience with appeals.
If you choose to represent yourself, you can find more information about appeals,
the steps you have to follow, and how to prepare briefs and other paperwork at
www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp-appeals.htm
At this website, you will also find information on how to contact your local appeals court,
find out if your court has a self-help center available to help you,
and get help finding a lawyer.
You can also look for an experienced appeals lawyer by contacting
the lawyer referral service of your county's bar association.
We hope this video has helped you understand
more about the appeals process and decide what you want to do next.