If you find yourself in any kind of business or estate dispute and you cannot resolve the dispute outside of court with the parties involved, you will likely have to go to trial. During the trial, you will present your evidence and hope that it is strong enough to convince the judge or jury to decide in your favor. However, if you do not succeed at trial, you may be able to file an appeal.
If you want to file for an appeal, you must have grounds – you cannot simply appeal the court decision because you are unhappy with the outcome. Some examples of a legal ground to file:
- The judge made an error of law
- The facts of the case and/or evidence introduced do not support the court’s decision
- The judge abused his or her discretion
If you have grounds and decide to file an appeal, you must first determine which appellate court can hear your appeal and what kind of appeal you are filing. The state of Georgia has two appellate courts – the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Georgia, and there are three kinds of appeals in civil cases:
Direct Appeal
If a final judgment has been entered against you, whether as a result of a trial or summary judgment, you can file a direct appeal to argue that the outcome was the result of an error in a lower court. Essentially you are asking the appellate court to agree that errors were made and require the lower court to grant you a “do-over”. A notice of direct appeal must generally be filed with the trial court clerk within thirty days after the final order is issued.
Interlocutory Appeals
This type of appeal is appropriate for appealing trial court orders issued before trial. If a trial court issues an order against you prior to trial and certifies within ten days of entering the order that the decision is so important to the case that it should be appealed immediately, you can request that the appropriate appellate court grant you an interlocutory appeal by filing an application for interlocutory relief with the appropriate court.
Discretionary Appeals
Discretionary appeals are appeals that are not filed as a right, as direct appeals are, and are not filed while the case is still proceeding in the lower court, like interlocutory appeals. Discretionary appeals include appeals from a decision by the Georgia Court of Appeals to the Georgia Supreme Court. Like interlocutory appeals, discretionary appeals require an application to the appropriate appellate court and can only proceed if the application is granted.
If you feel that a judge’s ruling against you is in error, you should seek guidance from an experienced attorney regarding your options for an appeal.
Contact our experienced attorneys to schedule a consultation today.
Gaslowitz Frankel LLC is Georgia’s premier fiduciary litigation law firm. The firm has earned a reputation for excellence across Georgia and the Southeast in providing representation to individuals, executors, trustees, investors, shareholders, and financial institutions in complex fiduciary disputes involving wills, estates, trusts, guardianships, conservatorships, businesses, and securities.
