An Attorney Helped Me Finally Get on Disability

Don't Give Up Your Chance For Personal Injury Success

When you've been harmed by another, the justice system provides a remedy. Civil law oversees this arm of the law and the punishments rendered are financial rather than the incarceration you might expect with criminal law. Unfortunately, not all personal injury cases are successful. Again, however, legal procedure provides a remedy in the form of an appeal. Read on to learn more.

There Must Be Grounds

Many personal injury suits can be complex and the potential for problems are many. To obtain an appeal, you must be prepared to show that the judge erred in some way. It might be an improper interpretation of the law or it might through another point of procedure. If there are numerous issues with the way the trial occurred, your appeal attorney will focus on the issue that is backed up by the strongest point of law.

What Is the Purpose of an Appeal?

An appeal takes another look at certain issues in a previous trial to ensure that the letter and spirit of the law was followed. During an appeal, the record of the trial is reviewed, and if a problem is discovered, a new trial may be ordered. Both the trial itself and the verdict of the trial comes under scrutiny. Your appeal attorney must be ready to prove, citing legal precedent, that the judge failed to rule properly on a point of law. In some cases, the error is glaring and easy to see. For example, if the judge should have awarded you, the victim, a sum of money for future medical expenses but forgot to include the award in the ruling, an appeal provides an opportunity to have that corrected.

What Takes Place During an Appeal Hearing?

You cannot compare an appeal to your trial—it is vastly different. In most cases, you won't be present for the appeal since only your attorney, the state attorney, and the appellant panel is present. Appeals are presided over by several judges, rather like the Supreme Court when they meet. Each side gets a chance to brief the court using appellate briefs. They are provided to the judges in both written and oral form. Only the record of the trial is reviewed—no new evidence can be admitted.

After the Appeal

If the appellate court agrees with your attorney that an error was made during your personal injury trial, a correction will be made. In cases of gross errors, the case will have to be tried again.

Speak to your personal injury attorney to learn more about what might happen if your personal injury case has to be appealed.