Criminal Appeals, and specialized legal Writs, are areas of practice for our firm. Once a conviction has occurred, a number of legal errors may have occurred, and therefore can be attacked in the Appellate Courts.

A successful appeal can mean the suppression of evidence, a reduction in sentence or other penalties, or the granting of a new trial. Appeals are based upon  the "record" in the case as it occurred in the trial court, and (usually) no new evidence is presented to the Appellate Justices. Appeals tend to be technical and time consuming, but can reap great rewards for those erroneously convicted.

California law allows the setting of bail while an appeal is pending, so a person facing incarceration may be free while the appeal is heard.

Our office practices in the area of DMV Writs, and has recently litigated them in Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. Two writs we have won were recently appealed by the DMV to the 4th Appellate District, both resulting in published opinions; Baker v. DMV  (2000) 81 Cal.App. 4th 1167, (we lost, and the California Supreme Court denied our application for review),  as we fought for our client's right to drive. We won the other in a ruling regarding admissibility of a blood test result, Jacobson V. DMV (2000)  83 Cal.App.4th 1331.

For very complex cases, we have associates who are full time appellate lawyers who work with us on the case. A conviction in the trial court does not always mean the case is over.