Appeals are about the record — and how you read it.

What an appeal actually is

An appeal is not a re-trial. The Court of Appeal does not hear new witnesses or look at new evidence. It looks at the existing record — the trial-court file and (if relevant) the reporter's transcript — and decides whether the trial judge made a legal error that requires reversal.

That means the work is mostly written. Briefs are submitted; oral argument, when it happens, lasts 15 to 30 minutes per side and is the only part of the process the public sees.

Standards of review — the single most important thing

Before we know what an appeal is worth, we look at the standard of review the appellate court will apply to each issue. The same trial-court ruling can be very hard or very easy to overturn depending on the standard.

• De novo — the appellate court decides fresh, with no deference to the trial court. Used for legal questions: contract interpretation as a matter of law, summary judgment, statutory construction, demurrer rulings.
• Abuse of discretion — the trial court's call stands unless it was outside the bounds of reason. Used for evidentiary rulings, discovery sanctions, most family-law orders. Hardest standard to win under.
• Substantial evidence — the appellate court accepts the trial-court findings if any credible evidence supports them. Used for factual findings after a bench trial or jury verdict.

An honest evaluation of your case starts with sorting each potential issue into one of those three buckets. Issues reviewed de novo carry the appeal. Issues reviewed for abuse of discretion are usually makeweight.

The California civil appeal, step by step

Criminal appeals & post-conviction

Criminal appellate work runs on a separate set of rules than civil. Different deadlines, different remedies, different standards of review for sentencing and evidentiary calls. The work is also more time-sensitive — a notice of appeal in a felony case is due within 60 days of sentencing, and in a misdemeanor case within 30 days (Cal. Rules of Court 8.308, 8.853). Miss it and the direct appeal is gone.

What we handle on the criminal side

• Direct appeals from felony and misdemeanor convictions in California Courts of Appeal — sufficiency of the evidence, instructional error, evidentiary rulings, prosecutorial misconduct, ineffective-assistance claims that appear on the face of the record, and sentencing error.
• Petitions for review to the California Supreme Court after an adverse Court of Appeal decision (10 days to file under Cal. Rules of Court 8.500).
• State habeas corpus petitions — the vehicle for claims that depend on facts outside the trial record: ineffective assistance of counsel, newly discovered evidence, Brady violations, juror misconduct.
• Resentencing petitions under recent California legislation — PC §§ 1170(d), 1170.91, 1170.95 / 1172.6 (felony-murder and natural-and-probable-consequences resentencing), and racial-justice-act claims under PC § 745.
• Federal habeas under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in the U.S. District Courts and Ninth Circuit — with all the AEDPA exhaustion and statute-of-limitations traps that come with it.
• Motions for new trial and post-conviction motions in the trial court where the appellate record needs to be built first.

What's different about a criminal appeal

• Standards of review favor the verdict. Sufficiency-of-evidence challenges are reviewed in the light most favorable to the judgment. Instructional error is reviewed for whether there is a reasonable likelihood the jury was misled. Sentencing decisions are typically abuse of discretion. Knowing which issues are reviewed de novo (legal questions, constitutional issues) is everything.
• Harmless-error analysis decides most appeals. Even a clear error usually requires showing prejudice — under Chapman for federal constitutional error, Watson for state-law error. Appeals are won by tying the error to the verdict, not by cataloging errors.
• Record preservation matters more. Objections, motions in limine, and offers of proof in the trial court are what make an appellate issue cognizable. Where preservation is weak, we frame the claim as ineffective assistance — which often means moving the fight to habeas.
• Custody status drives strategy. If you're in custody, the calendar isn't abstract. We assess whether a writ of habeas corpus with a request for bail pending appeal is realistic, and we file early when it is.

What we'll tell you honestly

• The reversal rate on criminal direct appeals is low. We give a candid read after reviewing the record — including when the strongest move is a habeas petition or a resentencing motion rather than a direct appeal.
• If trial counsel is the issue, we'll say so. Ineffective-assistance claims are often best raised on habeas with a declaration from prior counsel rather than buried in a direct-appeal brief on a silent record.
• Some matters belong with a court-appointed appellate project (CAP, FDAP, ADI, SDAP) at no cost to you. We'll tell you when that's the better route.

Writs — when you can't wait for final judgment

Most appellate review happens after final judgment. A small but important category of orders can — and sometimes must — be challenged immediately by writ petition: writs of mandate, prohibition, and supersedeas.

Common writ scenarios we handle:

• Denied motions to disqualify a judge or counsel
• Overbroad discovery orders, including privilege rulings
• Anti-SLAPP denials (immediately appealable, but writ-like in pace)
• Class certification orders
• Orders involving jurisdiction or venue
• Stays of trial-court orders pending appeal (supersedeas)

Writs are discretionary. The Court of Appeal usually denies them without comment. The petitions that get traction are short, specific, and explain — in the first page — why ordinary appellate review after judgment won't fix the problem.

What we do, what we don't

We handle

• Civil appeals in California Courts of Appeal (1st-6th Districts)
• Criminal direct appeals from felony and misdemeanor convictions
• State habeas corpus petitions and resentencing motions (PC § 1172.6, § 1170.91, § 745)
• Federal habeas petitions under 28 U.S.C. § 2254
• Petitions for review to the California Supreme Court
• Civil and criminal appeals in the Ninth Circuit
• Writs of mandate, prohibition, habeas corpus, and supersedeas
• Anti-SLAPP appeals (appellant or respondent)
• Family-law appeals (custody, support, move-away, fee orders)
• Co-counsel briefing engagements with trial firms

What we'll tell you up front

• Some appeals don't make economic sense. If the cost of appeal will outrun the value of what you can recover, we'll tell you that at intake — before you sign an engagement letter.
• Specialty areas outside our regular practice (immigration appeals, bankruptcy appeals to the BAP, patent appeals to the Federal Circuit, capital appeals) are matters where we'll either consult or refer to specialist counsel.
• Appeals are not a do-over. If the issue you care about wasn't preserved in the trial court — no objection, no offer of proof, no motion in limine — the Court of Appeal usually won't reach it. We'll tell you that honestly.