In the simplest terms, an appeal is a request for a higher court to reverse the decision of a lower court. You are asking the higher court to find that the lower court made some mistake that merits some type of repair.

You can appeal many types of proceedings: For example, you may appeal from a conviction of guilty after a trial, or from a final judgment of conviction, or from an error in a sentence, or from a motion that was denied (or all of the above.) In many cases, if there was a plea bargain, there are additional requirements that attach in order to bring an appeal. Contact my office to discuss the facts of a particular case.

Please contact this office as soon as possible if an appeal is contemplated. You must file the notice of appeal within the statutory deadlines to preserve your rights.

To initiate an appeal, there must be a Notice of Appeal filed. Your trial attorney should do this for you, or you may do it yourself. Notice of Appeal – Form CR 132, 133, 134. If you hire my office, I will file the notice for you – however, the deadlines are strict, and there is no extra time given to hire appellate counsel.

Appeals are highly complex and require significant research and knowledge of the law. Most persons, even those who are highly educated and enjoy researching the law are not able to prepare an appellate brief.

I have been successful in the Superior Court in reversing the decision of a trial judge through the appeals process. I have won on writs, and I have appeared in the Sixth Appellate district defending my case.

The time and effort that goes into the preparation of an appellate brief is considerable.

The following is an example of an appeal taken from a denial of a motion to suppress evidence. It has been redacted of client information.

Sample Appeal

I can represent you in your appeal in any appellate district in the State of Califonia. I write the appeals myself, and I will appear at the oral argument if one is required. I do not use “boilerplate” appeals from a forms manual.

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