Any party who loses a civil trial (bench or jury) has the right to appeal. Trials and appeals are expensive and laden with emotion. That said, we often receive inquiries from “appellees” when they find out the losing party is taking an appeal.1 These calls all focus on what really happens if they do not file an appellee’s brief. Clearly, the winner in the trial court does not have to file an Appellee’s Brief. This blog explores the ... Read More
15
May2020
30
Apr2020
In Indiana, there are thousands and thousands of trials and hearings each year. For litigants who lose on the merits in civil or criminal litigation, there are roughly 3,000 appeals taken to the Indiana Court of Appeals.1 This is Indiana’s intermediate appellate court. The entire appellate process is laborious for the lawyers who handle appeals and time-consuming for the Court because three judges are assigned to review every case. As might be expected, there are comprehensive rules to ensure efficiency and consistency ... Read More
27
Feb2019
Most individuals are aware of the social media app Snapchat. For those unfamiliar, Snapchat is an app that allows its users to send and post pictures or videos for a specified amount of time. After that specified time expires, the video or picture is “deleted.” Unfortunately, once something is uploaded to the internet, it is never truly “deleted.” As such, individuals all over are seeing the consequences of posting incriminating pictures and videos to social media apps. But, can any picture or video you have ever posted be used against you? Are ... Read More
14
Jul2016
In all criminal convictions (sentencing) and civil judgments (final orders), the non-prevailing litigant has an automatic right to appeal. Most appeals go to the Indiana Court of Appeals. With a criminal conviction at the time of sentencing, a defendant who believes he has been wrongfully convicted or received an excess sentence should most always appeal. This blog explores the two key reasons for seeking such an appeal, even in a case such as a revocation of probation.
First, failure to seek an appeal ... Read More
20
May2014
In Indiana, there is a tiered court system, which means that cases will start out on the bottom rung, and the next higher court has more authority than the last. However, this also means that your case has to start at the right court, exhaust all resources there, before it is allowed to move on to the next if you receive an adverse result.
Most cases begin in the circuit or superior court (the trial court), the county your are in and the type of case you have will determine which, ... Read More
06
May2014
When a matter is ripe for appeal, there first must be a determination of which Court has jurisdiction. In many cases, the Court of Appeals has jurisdiction, and the briefs, appendix, and related filings will be reviewed by the Court of Appeals. This is generally true for final orders. In some cases, however, the jurisdiction goes straight to the Indiana Supreme Court.
The Court of Appeals has jurisdiction over all appeals from Final Judgments of Circuit, Superior, Probate, and County Courts (if the Supreme Court does not ... Read More