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An appeal may only be filed after the trial court judge issues the final order in your case. A final order is an order that resolves all of the issues raised in the trial court. What this means in family law cases is that, in most cases, a party may not appeal a temporary order or an interim order to the Court of Appeals.
An appeal is the opportunity for the appellate court to review the record of the trial court, and to determine whether the trial court made certain errors. Not all errors are reviewable by an appellate court. For example, an appellate court is not able to second-guess the trial court’s determination of whether someone was truthful, or the trial court’s determination that one party was more believable than the other. Instead, the appellate court may only review whether the trial court misinterpreted or misapplied the law.
To start the appeal process, a Notice of Appeal must be filed with the Court of Appeals. The Notice of Appeal must be filed no later than 45 days after the issuance of the final order by the trial court. In the Notice of Appeal, the appealing party (called the “Appellant”) lists each of the issues he or she wishes to appeal. The Appellant must pay a $150 docket fee to the Court of Appeals, and must pay a $250 bond to the trial court to cover costs. Within 10 days after filing the Notice of Appeal, the Appellant must advise the trial court which of the documents contained in the trial court’s file the Appellant needs to be provided to the Court of Appeals. At this time, the Appellant may request that a transcript of the court hearing be prepared by a court reporter. The opposing party (called “the Appellee”) may request that additional documents be included among the documents that are to be sent by the trial court to the Court of Appeals. The Appellant then must pay the court reporter the estimated cost to prepare the transcript. The trial court has 90 days to provide the Court of Appeals with the documents requested (this is called the “Record on Appeal).
Within 40 days after the Record on Appeal is transmitted to the Court of Appeals, the Appellant must a legal brief (called an “Opening Brief”) with the Court. The Opening Brief contains the Appellant’s legal arguments, and makes specific reference to the errors the Appellant believes the trial court made. The Appellee is then required to file his or her Answer Brief within 30 days of the filing of the Opening Brief. The Appellant then gets the opportunity to file an additional brief (called a “Reply Brief”) to address the arguments raised by the Appellee. No trials are held in appellate cases, and no new evidence may be presented. The appellate court makes its decision based solely upon the briefs filed and the trial court’s record. Either party (or the Court of Appeals) may, however, request that there be oral argument presented to the Court.
After the Court of Appeals makes it decision, if a party feels the Court made a mistake, they may either file a Petition for Rehearing with the Court of Appeals, or they may request that the Colorado Supreme Court hear the appeal. If the party is unsuccessful with their Petition for Rehearing, they may appeal to the Supreme Court at that time, as well.
The appeals process in the Colorado Supreme Court is similar to that of the Colorado Court of Appeals. The main difference between the two courts’ procedures is that in the Colorado Supreme Court, the time periods are much shorter and the length of the legal briefs that one may file must be much shorter. Also, the participants in a Colorado Supreme Court appeal are given different names. The party filing the appeal with the Colorado Supreme Court is called the “Petitioner,” and the other party is called the “Respondent.” Additionally, the Supreme Court is not required to accept a party’s appeal. The Petitioner requests the Supreme Court accept their appeal by filing a “Petition for Certiorari.” The Supreme Court determines if it will grant the Petition and review the case.
After receiving your final order in your family law case, it is important that you discuss with your attorney whether you have grounds for an appeal, and whether it makes sense to file an appeal. Many factors will need to be considered, including the cost involved. The cost of an appeal varies dramatically from case to case, depending upon the number of issues appealed, the complexity of the issues appealed, the length of the trial court’s record and the hearing transcript. The experienced attorneys at The Harris Law Firm are well equipped to help you with this analysis, and to handle your appellate case.
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