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What Is Appellate Practice?

Appellate practice involves the appeal of a decision from a lower court in Pennsylvania. Appellate practice is a particularly unique area in which a limited number of attorneys choose to represent clients. Here at Hoffmeyer & Semmelman, L.L.C., we have experienced appellate attorneys who can help you plan for or handle an appeal.

Contact us today to learn about our appellate attorneys in York, Shrewsbury and Mount Wolf.

What Court Handles Appellate Appeals?

Our appellate practice lawyers handle appeals in all courts in Pennsylvania. This includes:

  • Courts of Common Pleas
  • Commonwealth Court
  • Superior Court

How Do I Handle An Appellate Issue?

We provide a number of services related to appellate practice.

Right To Appeal

In order to file an appeal, you must follow the proper process. We can help by securing your right to appeal from lower courts. Failure to secure the right to appeal in a proper and timely fashion means you lose the right to appeal.

Records And Briefs

You must have the appropriate records and supporting briefs to convince the higher court that an appeal is appropriate. We engage in the preparation of records and supporting briefs. This means we review all documents and records from your trial, perform necessary legal research and write persuasive briefs to the court.

Handling The Appeal

We handle appeals in nearly every area of the law in Pennsylvania. This means we can become involved in the appellate process at any point and take your appeal all the way through to the end.

What Is An Appeal?

When you lose a case, you might seek to appeal the decision. An appeal is a request to overturn or change the lower court’s decision. To successfully file an appeal, you will require legal assistance. If you win a case, the other side might seek to appeal the case. Under that circumstance, you will require an attorney to defend against the other side’s efforts to overturn the lower court’s verdict in your case.

Appeals V. Trials

Appeals differ from trials in a number of ways. In a trial, you will present witnesses to support your case. Frequently, a jury will be present to provide a verdict. During the trial, the judge will make decisions about what the jury can and cannot hear. Frequently, it is the judge’s decisions that form the basis of the appeal.

Sometimes there are other issues that can give rise to the right for an appeal as well. In the appellate level courts, there will be more than one judge. Those judges will often hear oral arguments from the lawyers and read briefs prepared by the lawyers. However, there will be no trial, there will be no jury and there are no witnesses. Sometimes the judges will make the decision based only on the written briefs.

Choosing The Right Appellate Lawyer

Given the fact that the success or failure of your appeal relies on your lawyer’s ability to persuade the court both verbally and in writing, the abilities of your appellate lawyer are extremely important.

In addition, before your lawyer ever gets a chance to put your appeal before the judges, he must gather the information to either support the appeal or convince the judges that an appeal should not be allowed.

This means the lawyer must be capable of performing high-level legal research and working with the record of your case as it was presented during the trial. Only highly skilled attorneys can be successful as appellate attorneys.

Don’t Delay!

Deadlines for filing an appeal may be as short as 30 days. If you miss the deadline, your appeal is barred. Our lawyers have substantial experience as appellate attorneys. We have the qualifications and skills that you need to make certain your appeal is handled properly in a timely manner. Call us at 717-846-8846 or use our contact form to schedule a meeting with our appellate attorneys.