Criminal Appeals

 

Of all the areas of law where the attorneys at Robinson & Brandt, P.S.C. practice, they have the most experience with federal criminal appeals. It is not an area of the law that most attorneys practice or even want to practice. This is because properly taking an appeal involves complying with very particular rules that change from court to court. The process involves very carefully reading over transcripts in search of errors, keeping up to date on the newest laws and cases, and often involves complex research and writing. Getting a chance to win an appeal means spending a lot of time looking over the case and researching the law, and not giving up until the best arguments have been identified and supported with citations to the record and the best supporting cases.

Because many attorneys do not want to be involved with an appeal, we encounter many defendants who did not have an appeal (even if they clearly had the right to appeal) or were represented on appeal by an attorney who did not have the experience or skill to identify the errors, conduct the research, and put together a concise, strong legal argument on why the client deserves relief. In those unfortunate cases, we can still help those clients. (For more about those options, please see this link to Post-conviction Actions.) But we would rather represent those clients in time to make sure their notices of appeal are timely filed and that the appeal gives them the best chance of securing victory.

The first steps toward a successful appeal are taking the time to learn all the potential arguments, researching those issues, and then pushing forward with the arguments that have the best chance of success. For our clients, the most important first step is understanding what can be argued on appeal and what types of issues the judges in the court of appeals will hear. For most clients, an appeal is a brand-new experience. It may be a surprise for clients to learn that the court of appeals will not review information that the trial court did not see and that the court of appeals will be reluctant to grant relief on issues that were not first raised to the trial court. For more information about the appeals process, please see our publication All About Appeals.

We are licensed to practice in every federal court of appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, with extensive experience in briefing and arguing before those courts. We have represented clients in every one of those appeals courts, and we have orally argued cases in most of those federal appeals courts. If you or someone you know needs an attorney for an appeal, please contact us.