Family Appeals Attorneys
Family law is typically thought to be an extremely stressful and bitter area of the legal field. Whether you are involved in a dissolution of marriage, a custody battle, a domestic dispute, or any other family law proceeding, there is no guarantee that the outcome of your case will be the one you wanted or even anticipated. Retaining an experienced appellate attorney is vital to the outcome of your appeal. At DML Attorneys, P.A., we have the experience, knowledge, and strategy necessary to advocate for you.
Appeals Process
Perhaps you were not granted primary custody of your child, or maybe you are unhappy with the amount of spousal support awarded to you by the court. Unfortunately, you cannot simply appeal a court’s decision because you don’t like it or don’t agree with it, as is often the case with family law. Rather an appeal can only be filed if you believe there was an error on behalf of the court that led to the final ruling you are seeking to appeal.
Despite a ruling being contested by one of the parties, an appeal does not present the opportunity for a new trial of the facts. Rather, a Notice of Appeal is a request submitted to the appellate court to review the final judgment of the trial court, assessing whether any errors or misinterpretations of law contributed to the final decision.
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Outcomes of an Appeal
Reversal - This occurs when the appellate court finds that the trial court made an error which directly affected their final ruling of the case. A decision by the court cannot be founded on error or misinterpretation of law, therefore the appellate court would reverse the trial court’s decision, ruling the opposite.
Remand - A remanded appeal is similar to a reversal based off the findings of the appellate court that some sort of error took place in trial court which subsequently impacted the final ruling. However a remanded appeal goes one step further in returning the case back to its original court to be heard again. Whether it is being sent back to the trial court for the purpose of a whole new trial, or simply a new sentencing hearing, a remand is a successful appeal and is often a positive thing for the party seeking the appeal.
Affirmation - If the ruling of the trial court is affirmed by the appellate court, this means that no such error or misinterpretation was perceived to have taken place by the court of appeals. An affirmation of the trial court’s ruling reinforces the initial decision by the trial court, subsequently upholding the outcome.
Another outcome is the dismissal of your appeal. When you file a Notice of Appeal, there are very specific guidelines to follow. If any of these is rules is not followed precisely, the appellate court does not have to review your appeal. In this case, your appeal will be dismissed and not evaluated by the appellate court. Perhaps you have sufficient grounds to file an appeal, however when beginning the appellate process, your appeal is not filed within the 30 day deadline. Or maybe the decision you are seeking to appeal is not actually a “final” decision of the court, but rather a stipulation of the final ruling. This would not be an appeal, but rather a modification of a ruling; these are two very different legal procedures. To avoid the latter, it is important to hire an attorney to help you understand the necessary steps to take in your case.