The losing party in a verdict by a trial court in the federal judicial system normally is entitled to appeal the decision to a federal court of appeals. In a civil case, either side may appeal the decision. In the case of
, the trial court was the District Court of Arizona. This district court is located in the middle region of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the appeal would be reviewed by the 9th Circuit Court located in San Francisco, California.
bullet points of the Federal appeals process.
A litigant who files an appeal is known as an "appellant."
In this appeals case, the appellant will be USAPA.
In the trial court, USAPA is known as defendant.
A litigant defending against the appeal is known as the "appellee."
In this appeals case, the appellee will be Addington, et al.
In the trial court, Addington, et al is known as Plaintiff.
Typically, the first step is to file a notice of appeal in the district (trial) court where the case was decided.
Normally, the appellant must file an appeal within 30 days of issuance of the
final court order1 in the case.
The district court informs the court of appeals and other parties involved.
In a civil appeal, the district court may require appellant to file a surety bond (Fed. R. App. P.7).
This bond or other tangible security may be necessary to guarantee payment of costs on appeal.
A three judge panel from the appeals court works together to make a decision based on
the record of the case established by the trial court.
Judges are assigned to panels randomly.
The panel can include judges from a variety of sources including:
A senior circuit or district judge.
The district judge can be from a district court within the particular circuit, and/or
A visiting circuit or district judge from another circuit.
It is important to note that the appellate court "
does NOT receive additional evidence" or hear witnesses.
Factual findings of the trial court may also be reviewed by the court of appeals.
However, overturning a lower court's decision based on factual grounds occurs only if the findings were "clearly erroneous."
The appellant has the burden to prove that the trial court made a
substantial legal error that affected the decision in the case.
Legal arguments are offered to the panel by the appellant in a written document called a "brief."
Through the brief, the appellant tries to convince the judges of an error in the trial court and petition to have this decision reversed or remanded back for a new trial in the district (trial) court.
The appellee files a reply brief to demonstrate that the trial court gained the correct outcome.
If an error was committed by the trial court, the appellee brief will explain why the error was not significant enough to affect the outcome of the case.
The appeals court can make a decision based on written briefs only. However, many times, the court will hear oral arguments.
The appeals court generally requests oral argument in slightly more than 50 percent of appeal cases.
During oral argument, a structured discussion of the disputed legal principles occurs between the appellate attorneys and the judges.
The appellant and appellee are typically given 15 minutes to present oral arguments to the court.
In certain cases, the oral arguments will be heard
en banc which means by a larger group of judges than the original 3. Most times,
en banc arguments will be heard by
all2 the judges of the particular circuit.
As of 2009, there are 29 authorized judgeships to the 9th Circuit.
As a matter of course, it is generally rare to have en banc review in any of the 12 circuits.
Oral arguments are open to the public.
The 2nd and 9th Circuit will review requests to allow for electronic and photographic coverage of oral arguments.
The 7th, 8th, and 9th Circuits make available Internet digital recordings of oral arguments.
The court of appeals decision is normally the final ruling in a case although there are exceptions.
The decision is normally accompanied by an opinion explaining the courts rationale.
A decision may be reached by a 3-0 or 2-1 vote.
A decision will take into account and apply any relevant precedents and similar cases already decided by that court, or by the
U.S. Supreme Court.
The court of appeals can send the case back to the trial court for additional proceedings.
Recent history of the 9th Circuit provides approximately a 5-10 percent chance of overturning a decision originally made by the trial court.
A party in the case, either the appellant or appellee, can request the Supreme Court to hear the case.
Party requesting Supreme Court review is required to file Writ of Certiorari (pronounced sƏr-shee-Ə-rair-ee) or "Cert" for short.
Certs narrow or limit the scope of Supreme Court appeal jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court "will agree to hear a case only when it involves an unusually important legal principle, or when two or more federal appellate courts have interpreted a law differently."
Only 1-2 percent of Certs are granted annually by the Supreme Court.
Based on data from the 2007 Annual Report of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the total
median time from filing an appeal to final disposition in appellate court was 18.6 months.
2006 statistics were only slightly better at 15.5 months
2008 court statistics have yet to be released.
Compared to the other circuit courts, the appeals process of the Ninth Circuit takes 20-25 percent longer due to the higher case load.
Once an appeal case is fully briefed, Ninth Circuit judges decided cases fairly rapidly. In 2007, final disposition of the appeals court occurred in .2 months for a case submitted on briefs and 1.2 months for a case in which oral arguments were heard.
1 It appears that in this particular case, the 30 day requirement will be waived due to the different time lines of injunctive relief (scheduled order delivered in late-June 2009) and a jury trial for damages (not officially scheduled; Possibly late August 2009). Plaintiffs – Appellees have already filled motion with no objection in district court.
2 Unique to the 9th Circuit Court, because of its larger size relative to other circuits, a "limited
