DOES YOUR CLIENT NEED TO APPEAL A FAMILY LAW DECISION?
Lawyers are becoming more and more specialized, and the day of the “general practice attorney” is largely a thing of the past. Now, we have business lawyers, personal injury lawyers, criminal lawyers, patent lawyers, family lawyers and numerous other categories.
In addition, there are lawyers who have specific experience in the different stages of the legal process. For example, you may have tried hundreds of family cases, but maybe you’ve only filed a handful of family law appeals. If you need to file a family law appeal, you might want to work with a lawyer who has an extensive appellate practice focused solely on family law.
Factors to consider in your family law appellate brief
When you draft an appellate brief, it is important to understand how the presiding appellate court tends to decide family law appeals, what they pay attention to when making decisions and what kind of approach works best for different judges. Your appellate brief needs to take all of this into account and weave in the unique facts pertaining to your client, all while incorporating your in-depth understanding of California family law.
The power of a successful appellate brief cannot be underestimated because it could ultimately reverse your client’s unfavorable ruling. Considering that the party who benefited from the previous ruling will usually have the upper hand in appellate proceedings, it is essential that you and your client put your best feet forward and polish your approach to perfection.
Collaboration can benefit everyone involved
Working with an experienced family law appeals attorney can be a collaborative process, in which the appellate lawyer’s experience augments your expertise and knowledge of the legal issues at stake in your client’s case. An appellate lawyer can also assist you and your client in evaluating the risks of pursuing an appeal to determine whether it’s worth your time and resources.