Litigation
Appellate Practice
When a person believes a trial judge has made an error in his or her case that substantially affected the outcome, the remedy is to appeal the trial judge’s decision to a higher court. Errors committed by a Magistrate Judge are appealed to the Court of Common Pleas. Errors made in both Common Pleas (civil court) and General Sessions (criminal court) are appealed to the Court of Appeals in Columbia. After an issue on appeal has been decided by the Court of Appeals, the losing party may then petition the Supreme Court of South Carolina to hear the case. However, the Supreme Court is seldom obligated or required to grant a petition for certiorari.
A good appeal begins at trial.
This is so because only issues raised before the trial judge and then ruled on by the trial judge may be considered on appeal. Therefore, it is extremely important to preserve the trial record with an eye to a possible appeal. It is extremely important to have a lawyer who is well versed in appellate procedure handle your trial to ensure that no potential issue for appeal is waived because it was not properly preserved.
The lawyers at the Gardner Law Firm handles appeals both in cases they personally tried and in cases tried by other attorneys. If you would like to explore the possibility of appealing the outcome of a case in which you were recently involved, it is imperative that you contact us immediately to schedule a consultation. You must not delay because appellate practice is full of deadlines that, if missed, can be fatal to your right to appeal.