The attorneys at Robinson & Brandt, PSC, have unequaled experience in federal criminal appeals. Writing and arguing an appeal for a convicted defendant is not an area of the law that most attorneys practice or even want to practice. This is because properly taking an appeal involves complying with very particular rules that change from court to court and requires complex research and writing skills. A good attorney must carefully read hundreds, even thousands, of pages transcripts in search of errors and keep up to date on the newest laws and cases.
In order to have a chance to win an appeal, an attorney must spend countless hours reviewing the case and researching the law and not give up until the best arguments have been identified and supported with citations to the record and the best supporting cases. Because many attorneys do not want to be involved with an appeal, we encounter many defendants who did not have an appeal (even if they clearly had the right to appeal) or were represented on appeal by an attorney who did not have the experience or skill to identify the errors, conduct the research, and put together a concise, strong legal argument on why the client deserves relief. In those unfortunate cases, we can still help those clients. (For more about those options, please see this link to Post-conviction Actions.) But we would rather represent those clients in time to make sure their notices of appeal are timely filed and give them the best chance of securing victory on direct appeal.
For most clients, an appeal is a brand-new experience. It may be a surprise for clients to learn that the court of appeals will not review information that the trial court did not see and that the court of appeals will be reluctant to grant relief on issues that were not first raised to the trial court. For our clients, the first step toward a successful appeal is understanding what can be argued on appeal, then taking the time to learn all the potential arguments, researching those issues, and pushing forward with the arguments that have the best chance of success. For more information about the appeals process, please see our publication All About Appeals.
If you or someone you know needs an attorney experienced in federal and state appeals, we are available for representation. We are licensed to practice in every federal court of appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, with extensive experience in briefing and arguing before those courts.
Robinson & Brandt, PSC, is a full-service nationally-practicing criminal defense law firm that cares about defendants and their families. Each case is different and a victory can never be guaranteed. But, our experience, hard work, and dedication to securing the best possible result for our clients is unequaled. We hope your case is another of our success stories.