The jury has rendered its verdict, but your case is still not over. Just because the jury gave the judgment to the other party does not mean that you will not get justice. Once the jury trial has ended, it is time to get into the appeals process. An appeal could get your verdict reversed to your benefit, or it could be the process you use to avoid a lengthy jail sentence. In either case, you need an expert to take your case.
One of the biggest mistakes people make is they retain their trial lawyer for their appeal. An appellate court is not the same as a jury trial, and you need an experienced appellate lawyer to handle your appeal. We have experienced trial lawyers and experienced appellate attorneys, but they are often not the same professionals.
The Difference Between A Jury Trial And An Appeal
According to FloridaBar.org, a jury trial is a setting where a lawyer educates a jury on the law just enough for the jury to make a decision in the case based primarily on emotion. While the facts are important in a jury trial, it is how the jury feels about those facts and the evidence that really matters.
With an appeals case, there is only a discussion of law and the application of the facts of the case to the letter of the law. According to the National Law Review, an appeal deals exclusively in facts. Where a lawyer in a jury trial may ask if the evidence suggests that the defendant’s shoes were brown or black, an appeal case will try to determine if that defendant’s testimony is relevant or not.
Why You Need An Appellate Expert
The approach for an appellate case is significantly different from that of a jury trial. If your attorney goes into an appeals process with a jury trial mindset, then they will not be presenting information the judges want to hear in a format that will make that information useful. An appellate court consists of a panel of judges looking for real legal information pertaining to the facts of the case, where a jury trial is the process of convincing people who are not legal experts that the facts of the case lead to a particular conclusion.
When your case goes to an appeal, you need to hire an experienced appellate attorney. We have appellate attorneys with years of experience in handling a variety of cases. We know how to present your case information to a appellate court in a way that will highlight the facts of your case and remove the emotional blinders that juries have.
Your appeal is not an extension of your jury trial. Your appeal is the opportunity to show that the facts in the case do uphold your side of the argument. Instead of relying on your jury trial attorney to work on your appeal, it is critically important that you hire an appellate expert who can get your case the attention it deserves from a very discerning appellate court.