Start With a Free* Consultation – (904) 355-7000
Each of our attorneys have handled cases on appeal including the drafting of appellate briefs and oral argument, and would enjoy assisting clients with appeals in each of Florida’s five (5) District Courts of Appeal, the Florida Supreme Court, and the Federal Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Appellate law is much different than trial work. At the trial level, there is usually only one judge or a jury who decides a case. However, on appeal, there is usually a panel of three judges and sometimes there can be a panel of the entire appellate court. In addition, the focus at the trial level is usually on the facts of the instant dispute, while the focus on appeal is usually on the legal grounds and application of the law to the facts.
As a commercial and business law attorney law firm, we know that great ideas and efficient marketing strategies may make a business stand out, but what really allows a business to rise above its competition and thrive is the effective handling of its day-to-day business law issues it may face. From entity selection, contract formation to dispute resolution for all parties concerned, having an available and proven, cost-effective legal resource is essential in today’s business environment.
A party typically has the right to appeal all final orders. In some situations, a party may have a right to appeal a non-final order. In determining whether there is a right to appeal, parties need to be very cautious that they meet the strict appellate deadlines set forth in the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure. Failure to adhere to the strict appellate deadlines will render an otherwise appealable issue not appealable. For example, there is usually a thirty (30) day deadline to appeal a final order. As such, determining when an order is “final” is absolutely critical to preserving one’s rights to an appeal.
Often times, there are typically many motions at the trial level. However, that is usually not the case on an appeal. Instead, the appellate process uses a briefing schedule, which consists generally of an Initial Brief, followed by an Answer Brief, followed by a Reply Brief. The requirements and conditions for the briefs are specifically set forth in the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure.
While there may also be many hearings at the trial level, on appeal, parties are typically limited to one oral argument. The oral argument takes place after all of the briefing has concluded. Oral argument is discretionary and is not always permitted. Oral argument must be requested by the parties or the appellate court. Even if oral argument is requested, the appellate court may decline to permit oral argument.
A party’s chances of success on an appeal typically depend upon the standard of review that the appellate court will use to determine the merits of the appeal. For example, sometimes an appellate court is able to review the case as if it saw it for the first time. This is called de novo review. On the other hand, sometimes the appellate court must utilize an abuse of discretion standard of review, which is a much higher standard because the appellate court will affirm the trial court’s order unless the appellate court finds that the trial court abused its discretion. There are many different standards of review and the standard of review should be considered very carefully in determining the likelihood of a party’s chance of success on appeal.
Due to the intricacies involved and the fact that there are specific rules that apply solely to appellate law, if you are considering whether or not to take an appeal, you should seek competent counsel who is well versed in the appellate arena. Just because an attorney is great at the trial level does not mean that he or she will be great on appeal. You should inquire as to the attorneys’ experience at the appellate level and ask whether the attorney has any reported appellate decisions.
If you are considering whether or not to file an appeal or if you have a question about appellate law, the attorneys at Heekin Law would be happy to meet with you to discuss your appellate options. As always, the initial consultation is free. Contact us today to get started!
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to