10 Questions About Personal Injury Appeals Process

Trial verdicts aren’t always final. When legal errors occurred during trial or verdicts seem fundamentally unjust, appeals provide opportunities to challenge results and potentially obtain better outcomes. Understanding how appeals work helps you make informed decisions about whether to accept unfavorable verdicts or fight them.

Our friends at Brenner Law Offices discuss how recognizing grounds for appeal and understanding the appeals process allows clients to pursue justice when trial results were tainted by errors. A personal injury lawyer evaluates whether verdicts warrant appeal and whether appellate courts would likely reverse trial results based on errors that occurred.

These ten questions and answers explain how the injury appeals process works.

When Can You Appeal A Personal Injury Verdict?

Appeals are available when legal errors occurred during trial that affected outcomes. Common appealable errors include improper jury instructions, wrongly admitted or excluded evidence, procedural mistakes violating your rights, and verdicts completely unsupported by evidence.

According to the American Bar Association, appeals focus on legal errors rather than factual disputes or jury credibility determinations.

Simply disagreeing with jury verdicts isn’t grounds for appeal. Appellate courts review whether trials followed proper legal procedures, not whether different verdicts should have been reached.

How Long Do You Have To File An Appeal?

Appeal deadlines vary by jurisdiction but typically range from 30 to 60 days after final judgments. These deadlines are absolute. Missing them means losing all appeal rights regardless of how serious trial errors were.

We file notices of appeal promptly to preserve your rights while evaluating whether appeals have realistic success chances.

What Happens During The Appeals Process?

Appeals involve written briefs arguing why trial errors require reversing verdicts, opposing parties filing response briefs, possible oral arguments before appellate judges, and written appellate court decisions either affirming or reversing trial results.

No new evidence gets presented during appeals. Appellate courts review trial records to determine whether legal errors occurred.

How Long Do Appeals Take?

Appeals typically take one to two years from filing through decisions. Complex cases or busy appellate court dockets can extend timelines further.

During appeals, trial verdicts usually remain unenforceable until appellate courts rule, though defendants can sometimes post appeal bonds and proceed with judgments.

Can You Present New Evidence On Appeal?

No. Appeals are limited to trial records. Appellate courts don’t consider new evidence, hear new witnesses, or make new factual findings.

Appeals review whether trials were conducted properly based on evidence and arguments presented during trial, not whether different evidence would support different outcomes.

What Are The Chances Of Winning An Appeal?

Appeals succeed when clear legal errors affected trial outcomes. Success rates vary but most appeals fail because appellate courts defer to trial court discretion on most issues.

However, appeals based on clear jury instruction errors, improper evidence rulings, or procedural violations have reasonable success chances when errors significantly impacted verdicts.

What Happens If You Win An Appeal?

Appellate court victories typically result in new trials rather than simply reversing verdicts in your favor. Appellate courts remand cases back to trial courts for new proceedings without the errors that tainted original trials.

Occasionally appellate courts reverse verdicts and enter judgments in your favor when evidence so clearly supported your case that no reasonable jury could have ruled against you.

Can Both Sides Appeal?

Yes. Either party can appeal unfavorable aspects of verdicts or rulings. Plaintiffs might appeal defense verdicts while defendants appeal large damage awards.

Cross-appeals where both sides challenge different aspects of trial results are common in injury cases.

How Much Do Appeals Cost?

Appeals involve substantial expenses including appellate attorney fees, costs for preparing trial record transcripts, brief preparation expenses, and oral argument costs if allowed.

Appeal costs often total tens of thousands of dollars. We evaluate whether potential benefits justify these expenses before recommending appeals.

What Standards Do Appellate Courts Use?

Appellate courts apply different review standards to different issues. Legal questions get reviewed de novo meaning fresh review without deference to trial courts. Factual findings receive deferential review where appellate courts only reverse if findings were clearly erroneous. Trial court discretionary rulings get reversed only for abuse of discretion.

Understanding these standards helps evaluate whether specific errors warrant appeals based on likelihood of reversal.

Deciding Whether To Appeal

Appeal decisions require balancing potential for reversal against costs and delays, evaluating whether errors significantly affected outcomes, and assessing whether new trials would likely produce better results.

Not every unfavorable verdict warrants appeal. We honestly evaluate whether trials contained reversible errors or whether appellate courts would likely affirm despite your disappointment with results.

Strategic Appeal Evaluation

Appeals serve important purposes when trials were fundamentally unfair due to legal errors. However, appeals simply seeking second chances after fair trials where juries made unfavorable but legally supportable decisions rarely succeed.

We evaluate appeals strategically based on error severity, reversal likelihood, costs versus potential benefits, and whether you’re willing to endure extended litigation pursuing better outcomes.

Understanding Appeal Limitations

Appeals don’t retry cases or second-guess jury credibility determinations. They review whether trials followed proper legal procedures and whether verdicts were legally supportable based on evidence presented.

This limited appellate review means many unfavorable verdicts can’t be successfully appealed even when you’re disappointed with outcomes.

Making Appeal Decisions

Understanding how appeals work helps you make informed decisions about accepting unfavorable verdicts or challenging them through appellate review.

Appeals represent important rights protecting against trial errors that denied you justice. However, they’re not mechanisms for simply seeking better results after fair trials that reached unfavorable but legally appropriate outcomes.

Contact an experienced attorney with appellate experience who will evaluate whether your trial contained reversible errors, assess realistic appeal success chances, explain appeal costs and timelines, and provide honest guidance about whether appealing makes strategic sense or whether accepting trial results represents your best option despite disappointment with outcomes that might not be reversible through the appellate process.