Your client is unhappy with the Superior Court ruling. Is their ego hurt? Do they really believe that there was a legal error in their case? These two questions must be presented to your client before they undertake the decision of whether or not to pursue an appeal. Statewide, statistics show that 85% of all appeals result in an affirmance - i.e., your client gains nothing by appealing his/her case.
Civil appeals, as compared to criminal appeals, have a better shot at success with a 20% reversal rate as compare to a 6% reversal rate for criminal appeals. Regardless of whether your client wants to appeal a civil judgment or a criminal judgment, your client should be apprised of the relative risks benefits of pursuing an appeal.
In civil matters, if your client is unsuccessful at the Court of Appeal, the client could not only be liable for his/her attorney's fees in pursuing the appeal, but he/she could also be ordered to pay the costs of the opposing party's attorney's fees in defending the appeal. With civil appellate attorneys charging between $10,000 - $100,000 to defend an appeal, your client should be apprised of the potential downside of pursing an appeal.
In criminal matters, a criminal defendant as a matter of right is entitled to have his/her felony conviction reviewed by the Court of Appeal. However, as stated above, criminal appeals only have about a %6 reversal rate. Many criminal appellate attorneys require at least a $25,000 retainer fee to commence work on an appeal following a criminal jury trial. Because of the high costs of pursuing a direct criminal appeal, yourclient is indigent, you may want to advise your client about the high quality representation your client can receive through the appointed appellate counsel program. The attorney eligible to receive appointed criminal appellate cases are highly qualified an monitored by one of the six Appellate Projects. For more information on the appointed counsel program for indigent criminal defendants, check out www.appellatedefenders.com.
I represent clients on both civil and criminal appeals in California. Some of my cases are appointed criminal appellate matters, while others are privately retained appeals. The goal for both is the same - ensuring that my clients received a fair trial and that the Superior Court's applied the law equally without regard to a person's financial status.
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