Cross-appeals in Civil Cases

A legal firm is being sued for negligence because one of their attorneys made a mistake in a case. The person suing them is claiming that the attorney’s error caused them harm. Your evidence went smoothly in court, and the jury quickly decided in your favor. Your opponent might appeal, but most cases are affirmed. However, you should think about filing a cross-appeal if you want to seek additional relief or disagree with parts of the judgment. A cross-appeal is necessary if the judgment was not entirely in your favor, and you plan to ask for more on appeal. You don’t need a cross-appeal if you only want to defend the judgment on appeal, even if you disagree with some parts of the trial court’s decision. But if you want to change the judgment to benefit you more or harm the other party, then you must file a cross-appeal. The Wiccans challenged a sales tax exemption statute and were denied a renewal of their certificate of exemption. The court ruled that the statute was constitutional, but the Wiccans appealed. The court ultimately agreed with the Department of Revenue that the Wiccans didn’t have the right to sue because they benefited from the statutes they were challenging. They also mentioned that the Department should have filed a cross-appeal, but since both parties argued the standing point extensively, the court waived the need for a cross-appeal. The court reversed the judgment and sent the case back to the trial court to enter judgment for the Department based on lack of standing. If someone wants to challenge a specific ruling that is separate from the main decision in court, they have to file a separate appeal instead of a cross-appeal. This is important because the deadlines for filing these appeals are different. If someone files the wrong type of appeal and misses the deadline, their appeal might not be heard. This happened in the case of Breakstone v. Baron’s of Surfside, Inc. It’s like filing the wrong kind of paperwork and missing the deadline for a school assignment. The court said it couldn’t hear the plaintiffs’ cross-appeal because it wasn’t filed within 30 days of the order they wanted to appeal. The court also said that a judgment against one defendant is different from a judgment against another, even if they’re in the same document. So the plaintiffs couldn’t appeal the judgment against one defendant just because the other defendant appealed. Yes, an appellee can file a conditional cross-appeal when the final judgment is wholly favorable in order to ensure that any errors against their interests are reviewed in case the main appeal results in a modification of the judgment. Failing to file a conditional cross-appeal may not result in a waiver of arguments for subsequent proceedings, but certain arguments may be waived by not raising them through a conditional cross-appeal. In a court case called AirVac, the defendant wanted to change their legal claim before the trial started, but they were denied. Even though the defendant won the trial, they didn’t bring up the issue again in a later appeal, and the court said they couldn’t bring it up later. The court said this was because the defendant didn’t bring it up again in the earlier appeal, not because of a previous decision in the case. This means that if you’re in a court case and you win, but there’s something you wanted to change in your claim, you should think about bringing it up again just in case. Filing a cross-appeal at the same time as defending against an appeal can make things more complicated and distract the court. It can also make the appellee look unsure about their arguments. It’s important for the appellee to carefully consider whether to file a cross-appeal, especially if they’ve already won part of their case. If they do decide to file a cross-appeal, they need to do so within 30 days of the original appeal. Even if the court’s decision is in your favor, it’s a good idea to think about filing a cross-appeal. This can prevent the other side from saying you gave up the chance to challenge certain rulings. It can also help you overturn bad decisions without going through more court hearings. But doing this might make it harder to argue for keeping the original decision. If you’re involved in a criminal case and you want to appeal a decision, there are specific rules about when and how you can do it. For example, if the state appeals a decision, the defendant can then raise a cross-appeal. The time limit for filing a notice of cross-appeal can sometimes be extended by the court, but an untimely cross-appeal may be dismissed if there’s no good reason for the delay. In some cases, a person bringing an appeal must show that they will be affected by the order being reviewed. The law of the case doctrine says that questions of law decided on appeal must be followed in all subsequent stages of the proceeding. If you want to bring up previous orders for review, you can do so through a cross-appeal. This article is written by the Appellate Practice Section to promote the principles of duty and service to the public, improve the administration of justice, and advance the science of law. The authors are attorneys who specialize in appeals and trial support. They have received their education from various universities and have experience working with judges in the court of appeal.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/cross-appeals-in-civil-cases/