APPEALS

Appeals

Individuals who have lost a case in a trial court may appeal to a higher court hoping for a reversal of the lower court ruling. The higher court does not accept any new evidence, but only reviews evidence presented to the lower court. This includes evidence presented at motions and evidentiary hearings. Appeals can be taken from criminal convictions and sentences, decisions on all types of civil litigation and any final family court order.


Appeals are decided primarily on persuasive written documents, called legal briefs, which are prepared and presented to the appellate court by the attorneys for each side. In many cases, the appellate court makes its decision based on the legal briefs. In other situations, the attorneys will be called to the appellate court for oral argument. Individuals who are appealing are not required to attend oral argument, which is a time that the judges ask the attorneys questions about information that was provided in the appellate briefs. Questions may be about the facts of the case, trial evidence or interpretation of relevant law.


At Erickson Webb Scolton & Hajdu, we have the experience and legal resources available to us that are required in order to prepare effective appellate briefs. We spend the time necessary to review court transcripts and other relevant lower court material in order to prepare persuasive briefs and oral argument. Three examples of our appellate success can be found at:


  • People v. Pattison, 63 AD3d 1600, 880 NYS2d 442 (4th Dept)
  • People v. Mosley, 56 AD3d 1140, 867 NYS2d 289 (4th Dept)
  • People v. Fredrick, 53 AD3d 1088, 861 NYS2d 895 (4th Dept)

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