Federal Appellate Lawyer Serving Albany NY, Troy, Saratoga & More

The appeals process is an important step in either criminal or civil litigation. Appellate courts offer you another chance to receive your settlement or to maintain your innocence. Federal appeals differ in New York state because they involve federal law rather than state law. Federal courts have different sets of rules, different timelines, and are often a completely different situation from traditional state appeals. Therefore, it is important to speak with an experienced Albany federal appeals lawyer if you wish to further pursue your case.

Federal Appeals Process

Contrary to popular belief, the federal appeals process is not a chance to re-open the facts of the trial. Rather, the federal appeals process involves attacking the judgment of the trial court on a certain basis. In federal appeals, you are not offered an opportunity to “retry” the case or present the evidence again, but instead, the proceeding takes place almost entirely in writing, as the lawyers for both sides file briefs which raise and respond to legal errors which allegedly took place in the trial court. This means there are no witnesses, no court reporters, and no jurors; appellate attorneys argue straight to the judges. However, just because an attorney submits a brief to the appellate judges, this does not mean that a case is based entirely on written documents. Federal appellate attorneys want to be able to orally argue the case before the appellate court judges, giving judges a chance to ask questions and providing the ability to successfully convince the judges of your position.

In federal court, a “notice of appeal” must be filed within ten days from the trial court judgment. This is a very short time period – for that reason, it is important that you consult with an appellate attorney as soon as possible to determine whether you should begin the appeals process. While it is not necessary to immediately panic about the short time period, you should not wait until the last minute to retain an appeals lawyer.

The entire federal appeals process is often quite lengthy and can take up to a year depending on the backlog of cases currently in the specific federal appellate court.

Federal appeals, and federal court cases in general, involve many procedural requirements which an experienced federal appeals attorney will be aware of. Anything as minute as the color of the brief folder – to the length of time between briefs – makes a large difference in presenting a successful appeal.

Attorneys who are both trial attorneys and appellate attorneys recognize the importance of “preserving errors” in trial court. This means that a trial attorney will object to something he believes is wrong during the trial. In order to preserve the error, the trial attorney must state a specific ground or basis for the objection. If the attorney does not do so, the error is lost and the appellate court will decide against this.

Hug Law, PLLC | Albany NY Federal Appeals Attorney

The federal appeals process requires an attorney with years of experience in federal courts. Matthew Hug is a NY appellate attorney with nearly 10 years of experience in fighting for his clients’ rights at both the trial court level and the appellate level, often continuing up the court process with his clients until they receive a favorable result.

If you have a federal case you would like to appeal to the next court, contact Hug Law today.  We can quickly file your Notice of Appeal to ensure your appeal is timely brought before the federal appellate court.