3 Mistakes to Avoid in Appeals

After the trial, the losing party had too much at stake emotionally or financially to let the verdict remain unchallenged. The Appeal is the next option, but many litigants don’t fully understand how different an appeal is from the trial.

They might not even understand the difference between the trial lawyers and the appellate attorneys. These differences may be overlooked when the inexperienced litigants launch such an appeal. Here are the common mistakes that such litigants regularly make and if these can be avoided, you will surely be on the just path to make a successful appeal.

1-Choosing the Wrong Counsel
Some litigants presume that their original counsel knows the case best and is also most competent to handle the Appeal. Thus they automatically let the trial counsel handle the Appeal. But the fact is that the trials and appeals need require lawyers with different skill set. A good appellate lawyer relies on the charisma and the oral advocacy to convince the jury of laypersons to accept the lawyer’s view of the facts.

The lawyers persuade the audience of the judges and rely almost exclusively on the written arguments which emphasize the detailed analysis of the applicable law and the trial testimony. An appellate lawyer brings the right skills to the case, along with fresh perspectives that are not emotionally tied to the case.

2-Untimely Selection

Appellate counsel should be hired early even before the case goes to the trial. If you hire an appellate attorney, who is hired first, he can prepare trial briefs and motions. Furthermore, he can preserve error, draft the questions, and also object to the erroneous questions that are given.
If you wait to hire appellate counsel until it is time to file the Appeal can deprive the litigant of valuable guidance and help. It can help in waiver of error that trial attorneys could not spot. The appellate counsel should be hired right after the trial and not just before the deadline to appeal.

3-Misanalysing the Appeal
Emotionally charged litigants have the focus of curing the injustice of losing the case. But it often overlooked that the parties are entitled to a fair trial, not the perfect one. A good appellate attorneys recognizes that appellate review is structured.

Finally,
If these mistakes can be avoided while filing appeals, the chances are high that the appellate will go in accordance with the process and may deliver the expected results.