The trial went wrong. The fight is not over.
A conviction or a sentence is not the final word, but the window to challenge it is short and the rules are unforgiving. Appellate deadlines run in days, not months, and the appeal is decided on the record already made at trial. If the trial just ended, the clock has already started.
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Every day the conviction stands, its consequences run.
While an appeal waits, the judgment does not. Incarceration or supervision continues. The conviction appears in background checks. A professional license can come under review, and for non-citizens, immigration consequences can attach. An appeal is the lawful path to undo the judgment, and it only works if it starts on time.
The deadlines are the first trap. The right to appeal can be lost entirely by missing a filing window measured in days. The notice of appeal, a motion for new trial, and the briefing schedule each carry their own clock, and courts rarely forgive a missed one. The strongest argument in the world is worthless if it arrives late.
The second trap is the record. An appeal is not a retrial. The appellate court reviews what happened in the courtroom below: the objections, the rulings, the jury charge, the evidence admitted and excluded. Error usually must have been preserved by a timely objection at trial, and no new witnesses or evidence come in. The case is won or lost on the record and the brief.
An appeal is won on the record, the deadlines, and the brief.
We build trial records for a living. We try cases ourselves, from DWI to first-degree felonies, so we know where trials go wrong and what a preserved error looks like.
Protect the deadline first
Before any argument is written, the right to make it has to survive. We calendar every date from the judgment forward, file the notice of appeal, and file a motion for new trial when the case calls for one. Nothing else matters if the window closes.
Read the entire record
Every objection, every ruling, every word of the jury charge. Appellate issues hide in transcripts, and finding them takes a lawyer who knows what a trial is supposed to look like. We read the record the way we prepare our own trials: line by line.
Brief the issues that can win
Appellate judges decide cases on the written brief. A brief that scatters ten weak issues buries the one that matters. We frame the strongest preserved errors, argue them precisely, and cut the rest.
Know the paths beyond direct appeal
Direct appeal is one vehicle among several. A motion for new trial, a petition for discretionary review, or a post-conviction writ may fit your case better. We tell you plainly which path your facts support, and we pursue that one.
Appeals: the questions clients ask first.
How long do I have to appeal?
Is an appeal a new trial?
Can I stay out of jail while my appeal is pending?
What can I actually win on appeal?
The call is free. Waiting is not.
Evidence goes stale, witnesses move, and deadlines pass whether you have hired a lawyer or not. The earlier we start, the more we can do.
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