The Court of Appeals Process - Just When You Thought It Was Over...

The court of appeals process is something you may want to be concerned with, but realize you have little control over it. In truth, small claims court aside, once your case goes to the formal injury lawsuit phase you're pretty much powerless.

This is the world of law and lawyers and, aside from being updated about progress, your job is pretty much done. That said, if the suit ever goes to court, you will be needed to testify at the trial. You will be put on the stand and you'll have to answer questions. Other than that you'll sit next to your lawyer doing nothing but trying to appear calm and likeable.

If all goes well, when the trial is done the jury will award you a sum of money. In a perfect world that sum of money will be large and handed to you right away. Unfortunately, no insurance company is going to want to just hand over a large injury award.

In most situations they'll look for reasons to take the case to a court of appeals. This is often done as a formality but it's also often done as a negotiation tactic. By this point they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. After all, they still have your money in their bank pulling interest.

Injury cases can be brought through the court of appeals process if either side decides that something improper happened during the trial. If a party is unhappy with the decision, they can appeal it and request a new trial. If you feel you didn't get enough money, you may want to look into getting an appeals attorney.

The court of appeals also gets involved if a lawyer says something inappropriate and the judge doesn't take measures to correct the matter. The judge can also decide to exclude certain evidence. In those situations an appeal attorney will argue that the exclusion was unfair.

There are also court of appeal cases brought when the first trial awarded the accident victim nothing. In cases where the appeals court recognizes that the injuries were extensive and the defendant was clearly at fault, they'll order a new trial.

If you've read the section on injury lawsuits, you'll understand that a 'new trial' will probably make your legal expenses go up considerably. This is why the threat of appeal can be so powerful.

For example, let's say that in the initial case the jury awarded you $50,000. The insurance company can threaten to take the case through the court of appeals process unless you accept a smaller personal injury settlement. You'll then have to decide which is more worthwhile, accepting their new offer, or going through the time and expense of a new trial.