Experienced Nevada Appellate Lawyers: Filing Writs And Appeals

Judges are not perfect, and you are not necessarily stuck with a poor decision. If you lost your case at trial and the judge made a mistake, you may be able to appeal the decision. Likewise, if during litigation, the judge issues an order that might cause you to suffer irreparable harm, but an appeal is not allowed, you may still be able to seek a writ from the Nevada Supreme Court to correct the problem.

Not all attorneys are appellate lawyers. Writs and appeals in Nevada require a lawyer with specific skills and experience. The Las Vegas judgment appeal attorneys at Pecos Law Group in Henderson have 160 years of combined experience. Our appellate lawyers have been involved in landmark appellate decisions and have helped to forge new laws in the state of Nevada for decades.

Righting Wrongs: Correcting Judicial Errors Or Trial Attorney Mistakes

If your original case had errors, the results in court do not need to be permanent. An unfavorable order or judgment can be corrected by an appellate court. While statistically, most appeals are denied, there are multiple reasons an appellate court might overturn or remand a poor trial court decision, including:

• If a judge misapplies the law
• If a judge abuses their discretion
• If a judge acts in an arbitrary or capricious manner

In any of these scenarios, the higher court has a duty to intervene. However, there are important deadlines that you must meet in order to perfect an appeal. If you miss these deadlines, your opportunity for appeal will be forever barred. If you believe the judge or jury was wrong in your case, we encourage you to get in touch with one of our experienced writs and appeals attorneys immediately.

The Appellate Process In Nevada

The Nevada Rules of Appellate Procedure require the notice of appeal to be filed within 30 days of written notice of entry of the order to be appealed from. If the notice of appeal is not filed by that date, your rights to appeal this decision will be forever waived.

The general procedure of an appeal is as follows:

• Notice of appeal: Our office will prepare and file a “Notice of Appeal” and pay filing fees. We also prepare and file a “Case Appeal Statement” to accompany the notice of appeal. It is also necessary to post a cost bond in the amount of $500.00.
• Notification of docketing: Upon the filing of the notice of appeal, the Clark County Clerk forwards to the Clerk of the Supreme Court the filing fee and copies of several documents from the district court’s file. After that, the Clerk of the Supreme Court sends out letters acknowledging receipt of the filing fee and notifying the parties that the case has been docketed.
• Transcript review: After the notice of appeal is filed, our attorneys will review the court file to determine which transcripts are necessary for the appeal. We then obtain the court reporter’s estimate of the cost to prepare the transcripts, pay a deposit to the court reporter for the preparation of the transcripts, and file a formal “Request for Transcripts” with the Supreme Court. All of this must be accomplished within fifteen days of the filing of the Notice of Appeal.
• Court transcript receipt: Once the transcript request has been filed, the court reporter prepares the transcripts, files them with the Clerk of the Supreme Court, and provides us copies of the transcripts. Upon receipt of the transcripts, we serve copies of the transcripts to the respondent.
• Docketing statement: After the filing of the formal request for transcripts, our attorneys prepare and file a docketing statement with the Clerk of the Supreme Court which provides information needed by the court to determine how best to handle the appeal. The docketing statement must be filed within 15 days of the docketing of the appeal.
• The Supreme Court Settlement Program: Many appeals are referred to the Supreme Court Settlement Program. If the appeal is set for a settlement conference, we complete a confidential settlement brief, which is sent only to the Settlement Judge and outlines the factual history of the case, main points of argument on appeal, and potential settlement agreement to resolve the case. If the matter is not resolved in settlement, the appellate court will issue a timeline to complete briefs.
• Filing the opening brief: Next, we prepare and file the opening brief, together with an appendix containing copies of documents filed in the district court that are relevant to the case on appeal. Preparation and filing of the brief entails, among other things, gathering the facts of the case, formulating the legal arguments to be presented, writing the brief, copying, covering and binding the brief, and sending it to the Clerk of the Supreme Court for filing. The opening brief must be filed within 120 days of the docketing of the appeal.

After the opening brief and appendix are filed, the respondent has 30 days within which to file an answering brief, and we are allowed another 30 days after that to file a reply brief, if necessary. The case then gets submitted to the court for decision. The court will likely decide the case on the written briefs but, in some circumstances, may schedule the matter for a 30-minute oral argument if it has questions that were not answered by the briefs.

Experienced Appellate Lawyers

While a majority of appeals are denied, our firm’s appellate lawyers have experience getting a case to be heard on appeal. Our appeal lawyers have been involved in published and landmark Nevada Supreme Court opinions, including the following cases:

• Arcella v. Arcella, 133 Nev. Ad. Op. 104, 407 P.3d 341, (December 26, 2017)
• Nguyen v. Boynes, 133 Nev. Ad. Op. 32, 396 P.3d 774, (June 22, 2017)
• Petit v. Adrianzen, 133 Nev. Ad. Op. 15, 392 P.3d 630 (April 13, 2017)
• Ivey v. Ivey, 129 Nev. Ad. Op. 16 (March 28, 2013)
• Rivero v. Rivero, 125 Nev. 410, 216 P.3d 213 (2009)
• Johanson v. Eighth Judicial District Court, 124 Nev. 245, 182 P.3d 94 (2008)
• Millen v. Eighth Judicial District Court, 122 Nev. 1245, 148 P.3d 694 (2006)
• Miller v. Miller, 134 Nev. Ad. Op. 16 , 412 P.3d 1081, (March 15, 2018)
• McClintock v. McClintock, 122 Nev. 842, 138 P.3d 513 (2006)
• Hudson v. Jones, 122 Nev 708, 138 P.3d 429 (2006)
• Potter v. Potter, 121 Nev. 613, 119 P.3d 1246 (2005) (amicus brief on behalf of Family Law Section, State Bar of Nevada)
• Kirkpatrick v. Eighth Judicial District Court, 119 Nev. 66, 64 P.3d 1056 (2003)
• Wright v. Osburn, 114 Nev. 1367, 970 P.2d 1071 (1998)
• Hopper v. Hopper, 113 Nev. 1138, 946 P.2d 171 (1997)
• Khaldy v. Khaldy, 111 Nev. 374, 892 P.2d 584 (1995)
• Lewis v. Hicks, 108 Nev. 1107, 843 P.2d 828 (1992)

Our Las Vegas appellate attorneys can handle an appeal from any district court in Nevada. An experienced Supreme Court Appellate lawyer may enhance your chances of reversing a poor decision or mistake by the trial judge.

An Alternative To An Appeal: Emergency Relief With A Nevada Supreme Court Writ

During a court proceeding, if the judge makes a decision that might cause you irreparable harm, but an appeal is not permitted, you may be able to seek emergency relief with a Nevada Supreme Court writ.

Our firm’s attorneys have been involved with notable writs, including the following:

• Special needs children: In this case, despite the unquestioned special needs of a divorcing couple’s disabled child and significant expenses related to those special needs, the district court denied an upward deviation in child support. On behalf of the custodial parent, Pecos Law Group appealed the district court’s decision and is arguing the district court, pursuant to statute, should have awarded the custodial parent additional child support to assist in the special needs of the child.
• Custody as parental punishment: In this case, the district court awarded primary physical custody and relocation to a parent based primarily on perceived wrongdoing by the other parent. We appealed the district court’s order on behalf of the noncustodial parent and we are arguing that the district court should have based its child custody decision on the best interests of the child, not perceived wrongdoing by a parent.
• Third-party custody: In this case, a biological parent conceded custody to a third-party relative and then returned to the district court to try to modify the arrangement, which the district court denied. The biological parent appealed the district court’s order. Our firm represents the respondent’s third-party relative and has argued that the district court made the right decision, as the children have been thriving in the third-party relative’s care.
• Property division, alimony and attorney’s fees: In this case, our firm’s divorce lawyers prevailed at trial, and the client was awarded a significant amount of alimony and attorney’s fees. The opposing party has appealed the trial court’s orders while failing to abide by the district court’s decision. Pecos Law Group is defending against the appeal and has obtained several findings of contempt against the opposing party for failing to follow the district court orders while the matter is on appeal.

Our appellate lawyers have also secured a notable recent unpublished order. In a case regarding unmerged marital settlement agreements, a spouse sought a declaratory judgment that the parties’ unmerged settlement agreement was void because, among other things, it was extinguished upon entry of the parties’ Decree of Divorce. The district court declared the settlement agreement void, and Pecos Law Group appealed. The Nevada Court of Appeals agreed that the unmerged settlement agreement was not extinguished by the parties’ divorce and remanded the case back to the district court for further proceedings.

Consult A Nevada Appellate Lawyer Today

Do you have a decision from a trial court judge that you believe requires a second look? Our Nevada writ and appeals lawyers offer initial consultation appointments. During this appointment, our appellate lawyers can assess your case and evaluate your options for pursuing an appeal.

To schedule an initial consultation, contact us by calling 702-843-5142 or send us a message through our website.