Appeals (State & Federal)
Donna Greenspan Solomon is an experienced and accomplished appellate attorney. Donna is one the few attorneys certified by The Florida Bar in both Appellate Practice and Business Litigation. After graduating from law school at the top of her class, Donna clerked at the Fourth District Court of Appeal for Justice Barbara J. Pariente.
Donna handles final and interlocutory appeals in the five Florida District Courts of Appeal, the Florida Supreme Court, and the Eleventh Circuit. She also appears pro hac vice in appellate proceedings outside Florida. Donna’s appellate experience covers a wide variety of substantive areas, including insurance coverage, real estate, probate, personal injury, and employment law. Donna is experienced in filing extraordinary writs, such as petitions for writ of certiorari challenging discovery orders. She has also testified as an expert on appellate fees.
Donna associates with other attorneys on an “of-counsel” basis in drafting pre-trial substantive motions and memoranda, preserving the record during trial for potential appeal, and handling appeals.
To request additional information, please use the Contact Us form, call 561-464-5893, or email: Donna@SolomonAppeals.com.
The Florida Appeals Lawyer You Need
If you have lost your civil case, you have a right to appeal the decision. There are many different types of civil appeals in Florida, ranging from the breach-of-contract lawsuit to equitable distribution claims in divorce to foreclosures. Even though civil appellate lawsuits vary widely, all civil appeals have one thing in common. The appellate process is always significantly different from the litigation process.
When You Need to Appeal Your Case, Experience Matters
A skilled litigation attorney may not have the unique experience and skills needed to succeed in a complicated appellate case. Appellate lawyers use different skills than trial lawyers to succeed. Winning on appeal requires an appellate lawyer to make compelling legal arguments based on errors during the trial. If you need to appeal your civil case, you need a lawyer who understands how to comb through the trial court record and find the most compelling legal arguments.
You need a lawyer who can write complex yet compelling legal briefs and submit them to the appellate court. Consulting with an attorney who focuses her legal practice on appeals is crucial. Attorney Donna Solomon of Solomon Appeals, Mediation & Arbitration has a proven track record of success for her appellate clients. She will use her decades of experience succeeding in appellate cases to your advantage.
Exercising Your Right to an Appeal
As a United States citizen and resident of Florida, you have a right to appeal a trial court decision, granted by the US constitution and the Florida constitution. After a civil court renders a verdict in your case, a party who disagrees with the ruling has a right to petition a higher-level appellate court to review the trial court's decision. The appellate process requires an attorney who is familiar with the Florida appeals process. The procedural rules are different in appeals cases than in litigation, and you need an attorney like Donna Solomon with a proven track record of successfully filing appeals.
Did an Error Occur During Your Trial?
During the appeals process, you will need to contend that the judge overseeing your trial made a “harmful” error. Errors occur in nearly every trial because judges and lawyers are human and make mistakes. Winning on appeal requires more than proving that an error occurred. Florida appellate courts will not correct harmless errors. Instead, the party who benefited from the trial court’s error must prove that there is no reasonable possibility that the error contributed to the verdict.
Appellate court judges use the harmless error rule to excuse inconsequential trial court errors. Florida first enacted the harmless error rule in statutory form. The statute states that appellate courts cannot set aside or reverse a trial court judge's ruling or grant a new trial unless they have examined the entire case. It appears that the error resulted in a miscarriage of justice. Case law further elaborated that the purpose of the harmless is statute is to require the appellate court to decide whether or not the error contributed to “causing or reasonably tended to cause, the result, and that the result was wong - a miscarriage of justice.” Henderson v. State, 113 So. 689, 698 (Fla. 1927).
Appellate Court Judges are Not Triers of Fact
Throughout the years, Florida courts have affirmed an outcome-oriented interpretation of Florida’s harmful error statute. During the appeals process, your lawyer will need to prove to the court that one or more errors made at the trial court level caused the judge to issue the wrong judgment in your case.
As a result, appellate court judges are not supposed to act as the trier of fact and weigh the evidence presented in the lower court. Appellate court judges do not hold trials, they do not call witnesses to the stand, and they do not evaluate other types of evidence to determine which facts are true. Instead, appellate judges focus on whether it is a reasonable possibility that the error brought up by the appellant affected the verdict. When an appellate court judge cannot say, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the trial court error did not affect the verdict, then the error is “harmful” by definition. The appellate court should reverse the case or declare a new trial.
The Appeals Process in Florida
The first step in the appeals process is submitting a notice of appeal. You will need to file your notice of appeal in the trial court that rendered your decision to initiate the appellate process. We recommend speaking to an appellate lawyer as soon as possible after receiving a verdict in your case. In most cases, you only have 30 days to file your notice of appeal, and you do not want to miss your chance to appeal. Additionally, the more time your appellate lawyer has to draft your pleadings, the better.
The appellate process is often lengthy, whether you are filing an appeal in Florida courts or state courts. First, the trial court will need to prepare transcripts of the original hearing. Both sides will need to submit their briefs and their responses to briefs. At the Appellate process, briefs are crucial. Your brief will contain the legal arguments as to why the trial court made an error that affected the verdict.
In your brief, your lawyer will request that the appellate court find the lower court’s decision erroneous, reverse the lower court decision, or reverse and remand the lower court decision for further proceedings. After both sides have submitted all the information, a panel of three judges will review the appeal and consider it. They may require an oral argument before the panel before making a decision.
Contact an Experienced Florida Appellate Lawyer Today
Navigating the appeals process can be challenging If you would like to appeal a lower court decision, you need an experienced appellate lawyer. Contact Solomon Appeals, Mediation & Arbitration to learn how attorney Donna Solomon can represent you in your civil appeal.
Donna Greenspan Solomon is an experienced and accomplished appellate attorney. Donna is one the few attorneys certified by The Florida Bar in both Appellate Practice and Business Litigation. After graduating from law school at the top of her class, Donna clerked at the Fourth District Court of Appeal for Justice Barbara J. Pariente.
Donna handles final and interlocutory appeals in the five Florida District Courts of Appeal, the Florida Supreme Court, and the Eleventh Circuit. She also appears pro hac vice in appellate proceedings outside Florida. Donna’s appellate experience covers a wide variety of substantive areas, including insurance coverage, real estate, probate, personal injury, and employment law. Donna is experienced in filing extraordinary writs, such as petitions for writ of certiorari challenging discovery orders. She has also testified as an expert on appellate fees.
Donna associates with other attorneys on an “of-counsel” basis in drafting pre-trial substantive motions and memoranda, preserving the record during trial for potential appeal, and handling appeals.
To request additional information, please use the Contact Us form, call 561-464-5893, or email: Donna@SolomonAppeals.com.
The Florida Appeals Lawyer You Need
If you have lost your civil case, you have a right to appeal the decision. There are many different types of civil appeals in Florida, ranging from the breach-of-contract lawsuit to equitable distribution claims in divorce to foreclosures. Even though civil appellate lawsuits vary widely, all civil appeals have one thing in common. The appellate process is always significantly different from the litigation process.
When You Need to Appeal Your Case, Experience Matters
A skilled litigation attorney may not have the unique experience and skills needed to succeed in a complicated appellate case. Appellate lawyers use different skills than trial lawyers to succeed. Winning on appeal requires an appellate lawyer to make compelling legal arguments based on errors during the trial. If you need to appeal your civil case, you need a lawyer who understands how to comb through the trial court record and find the most compelling legal arguments.
You need a lawyer who can write complex yet compelling legal briefs and submit them to the appellate court. Consulting with an attorney who focuses her legal practice on appeals is crucial. Attorney Donna Solomon of Solomon Appeals, Mediation & Arbitration has a proven track record of success for her appellate clients. She will use her decades of experience succeeding in appellate cases to your advantage.
Exercising Your Right to an Appeal
As a United States citizen and resident of Florida, you have a right to appeal a trial court decision, granted by the US constitution and the Florida constitution. After a civil court renders a verdict in your case, a party who disagrees with the ruling has a right to petition a higher-level appellate court to review the trial court's decision. The appellate process requires an attorney who is familiar with the Florida appeals process. The procedural rules are different in appeals cases than in litigation, and you need an attorney like Donna Solomon with a proven track record of successfully filing appeals.
Did an Error Occur During Your Trial?
During the appeals process, you will need to contend that the judge overseeing your trial made a “harmful” error. Errors occur in nearly every trial because judges and lawyers are human and make mistakes. Winning on appeal requires more than proving that an error occurred. Florida appellate courts will not correct harmless errors. Instead, the party who benefited from the trial court’s error must prove that there is no reasonable possibility that the error contributed to the verdict.
Appellate court judges use the harmless error rule to excuse inconsequential trial court errors. Florida first enacted the harmless error rule in statutory form. The statute states that appellate courts cannot set aside or reverse a trial court judge's ruling or grant a new trial unless they have examined the entire case. It appears that the error resulted in a miscarriage of justice. Case law further elaborated that the purpose of the harmless is statute is to require the appellate court to decide whether or not the error contributed to “causing or reasonably tended to cause, the result, and that the result was wong - a miscarriage of justice.” Henderson v. State, 113 So. 689, 698 (Fla. 1927).
Appellate Court Judges are Not Triers of Fact
Throughout the years, Florida courts have affirmed an outcome-oriented interpretation of Florida’s harmful error statute. During the appeals process, your lawyer will need to prove to the court that one or more errors made at the trial court level caused the judge to issue the wrong judgment in your case.
As a result, appellate court judges are not supposed to act as the trier of fact and weigh the evidence presented in the lower court. Appellate court judges do not hold trials, they do not call witnesses to the stand, and they do not evaluate other types of evidence to determine which facts are true. Instead, appellate judges focus on whether it is a reasonable possibility that the error brought up by the appellant affected the verdict. When an appellate court judge cannot say, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the trial court error did not affect the verdict, then the error is “harmful” by definition. The appellate court should reverse the case or declare a new trial.
The Appeals Process in Florida
The first step in the appeals process is submitting a notice of appeal. You will need to file your notice of appeal in the trial court that rendered your decision to initiate the appellate process. We recommend speaking to an appellate lawyer as soon as possible after receiving a verdict in your case. In most cases, you only have 30 days to file your notice of appeal, and you do not want to miss your chance to appeal. Additionally, the more time your appellate lawyer has to draft your pleadings, the better.
The appellate process is often lengthy, whether you are filing an appeal in Florida courts or state courts. First, the trial court will need to prepare transcripts of the original hearing. Both sides will need to submit their briefs and their responses to briefs. At the Appellate process, briefs are crucial. Your brief will contain the legal arguments as to why the trial court made an error that affected the verdict.
In your brief, your lawyer will request that the appellate court find the lower court’s decision erroneous, reverse the lower court decision, or reverse and remand the lower court decision for further proceedings. After both sides have submitted all the information, a panel of three judges will review the appeal and consider it. They may require an oral argument before the panel before making a decision.
Contact an Experienced Florida Appellate Lawyer Today
Navigating the appeals process can be challenging If you would like to appeal a lower court decision, you need an experienced appellate lawyer. Contact Solomon Appeals, Mediation & Arbitration to learn how attorney Donna Solomon can represent you in your civil appeal.
