Striking a Balance to Win: Balancing the Need to Win the Trial with the Need to Preserve the Record on Appeal

All trial lawyers want to win the trial, but sometimes they focus too much on that and forget to make sure the record is preserved for appeal. If the record isn’t preserved, it can hurt the case in the long run, even if you win the trial. So it’s important to make sure everything is in order for both the trial and any potential appeals. Trial lawyers need to balance winning the trial with preserving the record for appeal. This means being prepared and knowing the law inside and out. They must anticipate what will happen during the trial and be familiar with the rules about evidence. This helps them to make strong arguments and have a better chance of winning both at trial and on appeal. Being prepared and knowing the rules for reviewing legal cases are important for lawyers. Trial lawyers need to be ready for anything and know what the rules are for reviewing cases. This will help them make the right decisions during a trial and in case they need to appeal a decision. The standard of review for a court ruling depends on the type of ruling. For rulings on legal matters, the appellate court can make its own decision without deferring to the trial judge. For discretionary rulings, the trial court’s decision will only be overturned if it was arbitrary or unreasonable. For rulings on facts, the appellate court will review to see if there was enough evidence to support the trial court’s decision. It’s generally harder to challenge a trial court’s decision on facts than on legal matters. Recognizing the difficulty of winning on appeal is important for trial lawyers. When a lawyer asks for something during a trial and the judge gives it to them, they can’t later complain about it on appeal. This is called invited error. It’s important for lawyers to think about how their requests during a trial might affect their case if they need to appeal later. This can happen at any stage of the trial, and it’s often because the lawyer is trying to compromise to benefit their case in the moment without thinking about how it might affect them later. So, lawyers need to be careful about what they ask for during a trial, because they just might get it, and then they can’t complain about it later. When evidence is allowed in court despite objections, the lawyer must decide whether to introduce other evidence to lessen the impact of the objectionable evidence. This is a tricky decision because introducing more evidence could waive the objection. In a Florida case, the court ruled that if a lawyer introduces objectionable evidence to minimize its impact, it does not count as waiving the objection. So, it’s okay for a lawyer to do this as long as the court has clearly allowed the evidence over objection. The Florida Supreme Court recently changed a law that makes it easier for lawyers to object to evidence in court. Now, lawyers can file a motion to exclude evidence at the beginning of a trial, knowing that even if the motion is denied, they can still appeal the decision without having to bring it up in front of the jury. It’s important for lawyers to consider how their objection will affect the outcome of the case and whether it’s worth raising it in court. Appellate courts will only fix an error if it likely affected the outcome of the case. It’s not a good idea for a lawyer to make a lot of objections during a trial. The jury might think they are trying to hide something or make the trial longer. It’s better to only object when it’s really important for your case. If the other lawyer keeps doing things that aren’t right, you can ask the judge to say that you object to everything they do, without having to keep standing up and saying it each time. If something goes wrong during the trial, it can be brought up later on appeal, but it’s important to think about whether it’s worth bringing up or not. If you decide to preserve a record for an appeal, stick to your objections and requests without compromising for the benefit of the judge or jury. Don’t concede or withdraw an issue just to get a favorable ruling on another issue. Be specific in your objections and requests for relief, and make sure to back up your arguments with the law. If evidence is excluded, make a full and complete proffer of the evidence, not just a description of what it would have been. Stick to your plan and don’t compromise when it comes to preserving the record for an appeal. In simple terms, it’s important to keep track of any mistakes made during a trial in case you need to appeal the decision. But it’s also important to focus on winning the trial in the first place. It’s a balance between the two. Some mistakes can be fixed later, but others can’t, so it’s important to be strategic about which ones to focus on. There are ways to preserve these mistakes for appeal, but it’s also important to focus on being a good advocate during the trial. Christine R. Davis is a lawyer in Tallahassee who specializes in helping clients with their legal cases in both state and federal courts. She is a member of the appellate practice and trial support group at her law firm.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/striking-a-balance-to-win-balancing-the-need-to-win-the-trial-with-the-need-to-preserve-the-record-on-appeal/