Appellate Law
Appeals: Why You Should Consider An Independent Attorney For Your Appeal
After your case concludes in the trial court, either side can appeal any issue they lost. If you won, you will want a skilled appellate advocate to protect your victory; if you lost, you will want an independent attorney to help you understand why you lost and whether the chances of overturning the trial court decision warrant the time, expense and emotional investment needed to pursue an appeal.
Appeals Benefit From A Set Of “New Eyes”
Appeals are specialized proceedings, that require a very different set of skills from those needed at trial. Furthermore, the law governing appeals imposes unique procedural and substantive rules that differ substantially from those that apply in the trial court. Moreover, if you have had the experience of searching for something that you cannot find, only to have someone else walk into the room and see it immediately with their “new eyes,” you understand how initial perceptions can cause a person to overlook something obvious.
The attorney who represented you in the trial court may suffer from these same sorts of misperceptions about what occurred in the trial court and the potential winning issues on appeal. The judges who consider your case on appeal, however, will review it with “new eyes” based only on those parts of the trial court record presented to them by the parties.
An appellate attorney with “new eyes” thus brings the same perspective to your case as the court on appeal, unbound by the trial attorney’s perceptions. You should, therefore, strongly consider retaining an experienced appellate attorney to handle your appeal, regardless of whether you are trying to overturn a loss or preserve a victory.
Contact Waid Law Office, PLLC
Attorney Brian Waid has successfully represented clients in appeals in the United States Supreme Court, as well as the United States Courts of Appeal for the 5th Circuit (Southern U.S.), 8th Circuit (Midwestern U.S.) and 9th Circuit (Western U.S.). He has also successfully represented clients in the Supreme Courts of Washington, Louisiana, and Nebraska, as well as mid-level state appellate courts in Washington, California and Louisiana.
The Waid Law Office, PLLC, offers an extraordinary appellate experience to assist you with your civil appeal. To learn more about how we can help you with your appeal, contact us online or call us at 206-462-4435.
The Waid Law Office, PLLC, will consider the representation of clients in civil appeals on an hourly fee, flat-fee or contingent fee basis, depending on the circumstances.