COMMON QUESTIONS

An appeal is not a do-over or a retrial of the facts. It does not give you a chance to try again. Instead, an appeal asks an appellate court to review the trial court’s decision. The appellate court (either the Utah Court of Appeals or the Utah Supreme Court) reviews a trial court’s decision for legal error or for the abuse of discretion.

The basic structure of an appeal is:

1. File a Notice of Appeal (usually within 30 days after the trial court’s final order)
2. Request a Transcript of important trial court proceedings
   
3. File a Docketing Statement
4.  Attend mediation
5.  File the Appellant’s Brief
6. File the Appellee’s Brief
7. File the Appellant’s Reply Brief
8. Oral argument
9. Decision

A post-trial motion is a motion made after the trial court has entered its ruling. There are different kinds of post-trial motions, generally related to correcting an error, correcting a factual finding or requesting a new trial on specific issues. These motions are generally governed by rules 52, 59, and 60 of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure.

A fundamental rule of appellate review is, “If it’s not on the record, it doesn’t exist.” Preservation is when trial counsel raises an issue for appeal so that the trial court may rule on it. Appellate courts usually refuse to rule on anything that was not preserved.

The Utah court system has three levels: (i) the district or juvenile court (also called the trial court); (ii) the Utah Court of Appeals; and (iii) the Utah Supreme Court. The Utah Court of Appeals and the Utah Supreme Court are both appellate courts. In Utah, most family law appeals  go to the court of appeals. A litigant may ask the Utah Supreme Court to review a decision by the Utah Court of Appeals, but the Utah Supreme Court gets to choose whether to accept the request.

The Utah Court of Appeals often orders the parties to participate in mediation before proceeding to briefing and oral argument. Parties may also request appellate mediation. Just like at mediation before trial, at appellate mediation, the parties try to negotiate an acceptable resolution. The Utah Court of Appeals has a mediator on staff, whose services are free.

From start to finish, the normal timeline of an appeal in Utah is 12-18 months. Child welfare appeals may move faster.

Yes, unless the court grants a stay.

It is an order to pause the trial court’s judgment pending an appeal.

Parties may move the trial court or the appellate court to grant a stay. The court almost always requires parties to do something in exchange for the stay. For example, if you have been ordered to pay money, the court will usually require you to post a “supersedeas bond” or deposit money into court.

Occasionally a trial court makes a ruling that so significantly impacts the next steps that an appellate court needs to rule on it before even going to trial. Parties must petition the appellate court to review the ruling at that point.

A trial and an appeal are two entirely different processes. Preparing for trial can be an exhausting experience for a litigant. An appeal requires less involvement from the litigant because the record has been made. It is the appellate attorney’s job to scour the record to show where reversible error exists. 

A docketing statement is a very brief document submitted to the appellate court early on in the process to help the appellate court know that it has jurisdiction over the matter.

A transcript of the trial (and any other important hearings) must be made for the appellate court to review. The cost for preparing the transcript is approximately $1,000 for each day of trial.