Appeals

If you have been involved in a case in any Massachusetts trial court (District Court, Superior Court, Probate Court or Land Court) and a judge or jury has made a final decision that you feel is wrong, you may want to appeal your case to the Massachusetts Appeals Court or the Supreme Judicial Court. On the other hand, if you have a won a case in the trial-level court but the losing party wants to appeal, you will need an appellate attorney to represent you in these courts. Attorney Claudia Bolgen is a specialist in appeals to these courts.

An appeal involves presenting your case to a court which is “higher” than the trial-level court where your case started. This higher court has the power to overturn the decision of the lower court, to order a new trial, or to affirm the lower court’s decision.

Your appellate lawyer will get transcripts of what happened at the trial court and will look carefully through all the paperwork filed with the trial court on your case. Then your appellate lawyer will identify errors that were made in the trial court, will research the law on those issues, and will write a “brief” to be submitted to the appellate court. A “brief” is simply a written argument as to why a mistake was made by the trial-level court which should result in a different outcome or, if representing the party that won the case, why the trial-level court’s decision should be upheld. Each side submits a brief to the appellate court.

After all the briefs are turned in, the appellate court may hold a hearing called “oral argument” where each side has fifteen minutes to make a presentation and answer the questions of the judges. After the oral argument, the appellate judges will decide the case and will write a decision telling which party won and why.

The bad news about the appellate process is that it can take a long time — at least one year in most cases — and it is expensive. This is because it takes a great deal of attorney time to research and present a winning appeal.

Handling successful appeals in the Massachusetts court system is a specialty. In looking for an appellate attorney to represent you, make absolutely certain that you engage someone who handles appeals as a large part of their practice.

Attorney Claudia Bolgen is a successful appeals lawyer because she intensively researches every possible issue in a case, she creatively uses the information gained through her research, she writes persuasive, high quality briefs, and she is highly skilled at oral argument. She spends most of her practice time on appellate cases, and she has extensive experience in criminal, family law, probate and civil appeals.

If you are interested in finding out more about an appeal in your case, please call or e-mail Attorney Claudia Bolgen.