Supreme Court Simplifies Process To Appeal Legal Errors

A trial verdict is often not the final word in litigation, and the fact finder's decision is only as good as your ability to defend or overturn it on appeal. That's why an essential component of any trial is something known as error preservation. In many instances, a legal or factual issue not properly raised to a lower court can result in a party waiving that issue (giving up any right they would otherwise have to contest the matter before a higher appellate court). This is true even in situations where the issue is meritorious and may have a dispositive impact on the case outcome.

The rules for preserving error, and the types of motion practice used to accomplish that preservation, can be dangerous land mines for inexperienced or unwary litigators, especially when their primary focus is on winning the case by attending to all of the demands of a trial, including preparing for witness examinations, organizing evidence presentation, and developing closing