How an appeal runs, from the judgment to the decision
Every court sets its own schedule, so these are the stages, not the dates. We send you the real dates once the appeal is filed.
- 01
Step 1: File the notice
A short filing that tells the court and the other side you are appealing. It is due soon after the judgment, and missing it usually ends the appeal before it starts.
- 02
Step 2: Assemble the record
Transcripts are ordered from the court reporter, and the clerk gathers the filings and exhibits. This can take months, and the transcript is a cost of its own.
- 03
Step 3: Choose the issues
We read the whole record and send you a short memo: the errors we would raise, the ones we would leave out, and why.
- 04
Step 4: Write the opening brief
Our argument, every point tied to a page of the record. You see a draft before it is filed.
- 05
Step 5: Answer their brief
The other side files its brief, and we answer it in a reply limited to what they said.
- 06
Step 6: Argue, then the decision
Some courts hear argument, some decide on the briefs. A decision can take months; when it comes, we explain it and what can follow, from rehearing to further review.
The record
Everything the court will read is already written
An appeal is argued from the transcripts, exhibits and filings of the case below, and nothing else. That is why we start by reading all of it, and why the first few weeks look quiet from the outside. The brief is only as strong as what the record can support.
Start with the judgment
Send it with the date it was entered. We will tell you where the appeal stands and what the first stage would cost.