How Federal Criminal Appeals Work

If you have been convicted in a Federal Court (in any U. S. District Court in the United States), you have ten days to file a Claim of Appeal or a Motion for a New Trial. The best time to hire your appeal lawyer is that period between the time a jury found you guilty and your sentence date. This time is generally long enough to hire an appellate lawyer and prepare for filing timely a Notice of Appeal and decide how best to proceed after you are once sentenced in Federal Court.

The complex nature of most Federal trials makes it essential to work with a client well before his sentencing date, to review the trial file, and debrief you before you are sentenced and transferred sometimes hundreds of miles away.

After the Notice of Appeal is filed, my firm prepares a brief to be filed with the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

If you are denied relief by the United States Court of Appeals, it is possible to seek a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court.