Every litigant has an absolute right of appeal from a decision and order rendered by the trial court (In New York the Supreme court). It is essential that if you feel aggrieved by the decision after trial, that you file a document known as a “notice of appeal) within 30 days following service upon your lawyer of the final order with “notice of entry”. Failing to file within this prescribed period of time will render you in default, and prohibit you from prosecuting your appeal to the appellate court. This limitation of 30 days will be strictly enforced and there is no wiggle room. No excuse for the late filing will be entertained. So it is of the utmost importance that you make certain that your lawyer keeps you apprised of the exact moment he is served with the court order to give you sufficient time to determine whether to take the appeal or not.
Whether you exercise your right of appeal will depend upon your lawyer’s assessment of whether issues of law and fact can be presented to the appellate court and result in a reversal. Since the appellate process is most expenses (you must pay the cost of reproducing the minutes of the trial) and attorney fees may be extremely high, this decision should not be lightly take. In the final analysis what should be considered is the risk to reward ratio…that is the amounts that can be recovered against the cost involved. Only an attorney with substantial experience in the field should be considered.
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