Civil appeals
Civil appeals, after a judgment you believe is wrong
We represent the party who lost at trial and, as often, the party who won and now has to defend the judgment. Our clients are small and family businesses, property owners and individuals, in contract, property, business and employment cases.
Most come to us after someone else tried the case. We read the judgment, the docket and the key rulings first, and tell you in writing whether an appeal is worth bringing before you pay for one.
What a civil appeal can reach
- 01
A judgment after trial
Errors in the jury instructions, in the evidence the court let in or kept out, or in the law the judge applied.
- 02
Summary judgment
A case ended before trial because the court found no real dispute of fact. We ask whether there was one.
- 03
Orders that can't wait
Some rulings, such as an injunction, can be appealed before the case ends. The window for those is shorter still.
- 04
When the other side appeals
When the other side appeals, the brief for the party who won is its own craft: keep the court on the record, not the story.
Three civil appeals, and how each one ended
Reversed
Breach of contract judgment
The trial court read a limitation clause out of the contract.
Sample
Remanded
Boundary dispute between neighbors
A survey was excluded without a hearing; the court sent it back for one.
Sample
Affirmed for our client
Appeal by a former landlord
We defended a judgment for a restaurant owner on a lease dispute.
Sample
Sample matters, invented for this site. Every appeal turns on its own record, and an earlier outcome does not predict the result in yours.
Find out if your judgment can be appealed
Send the judgment and its date. We write back with the issues we see, the deadline and the fee, before anything is filed.