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There’s a possibility that one of your personal injury cases will proceed to trial. An appeal for your personal injury judgment might be in your best interest if the case proceeds to trial. A jury’s decision can be appealed in order to have it overturned by a court.

Most of the time, you would request that a higher court review the decision and overturn it. Often, the court presiding over the trial can be contacted directly regarding your request. The following information will help you if you need to appeal a personal injury decision.

 A Guide to Appealing a Personal Injury Judgment

You can seek a court to review the case the jury’s judgment in a few varied contexts. To begin, you might request that the trial be reviewed by a higher court. You explain why you believe the verdict is incorrect and urge the court to reverse it. In most circumstances, you have 30 days to file an appeal from the date of the verdict.

A move for a retrial is another option that may be accessible to you. This request is sent to the same court that heard the original case. To request a new trial, you must provide one of the following reasons:

  • The jury acted improperly
  • The other side committed misconduct
  • The latest evidence
  • There has been a legal error
  • You were denied a fair trial because of any other issue

You must file a motion for a rehearing as soon as possible following the jury verdict since you only have ten days to do so.

Seeking to have a court’s decision overturned entails filing official court documents and serving the opposing party, whether it’s an appeal to a higher court or a move for a new trial. You’ll need copies of the lower court’s proceedings if you’re filing an appeal to a higher court. You’ll almost certainly require a docketing statement from the lower court’s proceedings, as well as your own documentation explaining where the lower court went wrong.

 In What Circumstances Can an Appeal be Made?

It’s not enough to simply state that the jury’s decision was erroneous when filing an appeal. Instead, you must provide a specific justification for your decision. You could say, for example, that the jury violated jury instructions. 

You could argue that the court declined to let the jury consider specific sources of evidence that it should have had access to. Maybe the court denied your request for a key expert to testify on your side.

You are not restricted to a single cause for appeal. Alternatively, you might make a list of all the instances the court or jury made mistakes throughout the lower court processes. This method is known as reasoning in the alternative. Multiple grounds for appeal are allowed and common in California personal injury case appeals.

 Requirements for Reviews

In the majority of cases, the higher court hearing the appeal for your personal injury judgment looks for abuse of authority. In general, they respect the lower court’s decision. They argue that the lower court is in the greatest position to assess testimony credibility and make other determinations about whether or not the jury can consider specific sources of evidence. 

The higher court normally says that the trial court can make its own decisions unless the lower court makes a major error.

The higher court examines whether the error had a significant impact on the court’s decision. That is, if the court had reached a different conclusion on the issue, it would have had to be significant enough to influence the jury’s decision. A harmless error occurs when a trial court makes an error that is too minor to overturn a decision.

An Appeal’s Result in a case of Personal Injury

An appeal for your personal injury judgment could result in a variety of outcomes. The outcome is partly determined by what you request the court to do. The court could, of course, choose to sustain the verdict. Nothing changes in this scenario. If the court accepts your appeal, the jury’s entire verdict may be overturned. In that situation, the case is remanded for a fresh trial. Otherwise, the court may merely alter the compensatory damages in your case.

What an Attorney Can do to Help?

Deldar Legal Injury Attorneys will assist you in evaluating your case and forming realistic expectations. Your lawyer can assess the law and the evidence-based on their education and expertise. They can inform you if your appeal has a good chance of succeeding.

It’s important to ensure your paperwork is in order if you’re planning to file an appeal. You must explain how the law applies and cite what went horribly wrong in the trial. It’s vital that you stick to deadlines and submit documentation to the proper court. 

You must ensure that you have all of the required supporting documentation. Working with a skilled personal injury attorney can assist you in making the best decisions possible in your situation.

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