The Appellate Decision-Making Process

When the appellate court reviews a case, it serves two main purposes. First, it checks the lower court’s decisions for legal correctness. Second, it clarifies and establishes the rules of law that apply to everyone, not just the people involved in the specific case. Appellate lawyers need to understand these functions to effectively present their clients’ cases by choosing important issues to appeal. One key concern for the court is whether it has the authority to hear the case. This can be straightforward for final appeals, but more complex for nonfinal orders. Appellate lawyers should be prepared to cite relevant case law to argue for the court’s jurisdiction in these cases. When appealing a court decision, it’s important to file the appeal within 30 days. If you miss the deadline, your appeal may not be considered, even if you have a good case. It’s also important to know that certain types of motions can pause the deadline for filing an appeal. To protect your rights, it’s important to understand these rules. Appellate courts decide if a case is still relevant and if the parties involved have a right to bring an appeal. They also look at whether any mistakes made during the trial were brought up at the time or if they can still be considered. If a mistake is really important, the appeals court might still consider it, even if it wasn’t brought up during the trial. There are some exceptions to these rules, like when a law is said to be unconstitutional. When a higher court looks at a lower court’s decision, it has to decide if any mistakes made were actually important or if they didn’t really affect the outcome. In Florida, there are specific rules for criminal cases that say an error only matters if it had a big impact on the defendant’s rights. If a mistake is considered “harmless,” it won’t change the outcome of the case. Sometimes, the court might decide that a mistake wasn’t harmful without even looking at whether it was actually an error. Appellate courts use different standards to review decisions made by lower courts or agencies. These standards include abuse of discretion, competent substantial evidence, and de novo review. The difficulty in getting a decision reversed increases as the standard of review becomes more strict. Sometimes, cases involve more than one standard of review because they include both legal and factual issues. This means that lawyers need to consider the different standards when making their arguments. In criminal appeals, different rules apply to different issues. For example, when a court decides on whether to allow certain evidence, they look at the facts in a particular way, but when they interpret the law, they start fresh. Appellate courts follow the decisions of higher courts and look at past cases to help them make decisions on claims of error. They must follow the rules set out by the Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court. If there are changes in the law, the court will apply the law that is in effect at the time of their decision. When interpreting laws, courts look at the plain and ordinary meaning of the law or consider the legislative history to understand what the lawmakers intended. In criminal cases, they may lean towards a more lenient punishment if the law is unclear. The courts also consider if errors in a case are harmless or if they are serious enough to change the outcome of the case. They also look at whether the errors added up to warrant a reversal of the decision. If there is no transcript available for a case, the court will usually not change the decision unless there is clear evidence of a mistake. The courts also pay attention to the specific facts of a case and consider if a previous decision can be applied or if the facts are different enough to make it not applicable. Appellate courts make decisions as a group, usually with an odd number of judges. They talk it over and one judge writes the main decision. If the judges have different opinions, they may go back and forth before finalizing the decision. Judges want to make a fair decision based on the law, make sure it’s technically correct, and think about how it will affect the public in the future. Lawyers can help their clients by understanding how the court works and what they focus on when making decisions. This text discusses the rules and procedures for appealing court decisions in Florida. It talks about which courts have the authority to hear different types of appeals and the time limits for filing a notice of appeal. It also explains who can appeal a decision and the rules for raising issues or objections during the appeal process. Finally, it covers how courts review the decisions of lower courts and how they interpret and apply the law. Overall, it provides an overview of how the appellate process works in Florida. Raymond T. (Tom) Elligett, Jr. is a lawyer at a law firm in Tampa and teaches appellate practice at a law school. John M. Scheb used to be a judge and now teaches appellate practice at the same law school. This column was written on behalf of the Appellate Practice Section.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/the-appellate-decision-making-process/