Can A Lawsuit Be Appealed?
Michael Babboni
Personal Injury
For anyone that’s watched even a little bit of courtroom drama or reality television centering on courtroom activities, one thing that invariably comes up is the bitterness of the side that loses a judgement. In the majority of cases, the loser of a court case simply has to live with the decision, but often the losing side will make a statement to the affect that they will seek an appeal. So what exactly is an appeal? How does it work, and can it affect a lawsuit where you have been successfully awarded financial compensation for the negligence of someone else?Arguing For A Second Chance
When a lawyer for the losing side decides to make an appeal, this is basically a call for another trial, hoping for a different result, but this is far from an easy thing to achieve. An appeal doesn’t go through and a second trial commences simply because the loser doesn’t like the result, it doesn’t work that way. The basis of an appeal is for a separate legal body to review the events the occurred in court. They review the trial—such as a personal injury lawsuit—to see if there were any violations or errors in application of the law that may have unfairly impacted the final verdict.
In other words, the grounds for an appeal to successfully go through are that a trial was not properly conducted.
Judges Are The Jury
Unlike a trial, where a judge oversees the court activity, but the final decision is made by a jury, an appeal is argued to a number of judges. The record of the court, the transcription and documents outlining the exact activities that took place during a trial, is the sole piece of evidence. The rest of the appeal is argued by lawyers to the panel of judges, either attacking or defending the notion that the previous trial was not conducted the right way. This could be the result of improper use of evidence, a certain line of questioning, or even a decision the trial judge made on what information a witness was allowed to share.
At the heart of it, a lawyer arguing for an appeal is trying to convince the panel of judges hearing the appeal that trial was not conducted the right way. A client unfairly lost due to that inappropriate court activity and the only way to correct the mistake is to undergo a new trial. However, higher courts in Florida—and other states—get many more requests for an appeal than is feasible to adjudicate. So it is only for trials in which there is substantial doubt of proper conduct that an appeal will be granted.
One Judgment Is Enough
If you have taken the time to engage the services of a seasoned personal injury lawyer with a lot of experience in the courtroom, it’s quite likely that even if you win the case and the other side calls for an appeal, that appeal won’t go through. A lawyer or judge must have made a serious error in protocol and/or judgement that somehow prevailed throughout the entire court case in order for an appeal to be considered. So while it’s possible, the likelihood with a good lawyer isn’t very high.