APPELLATE INTRICACIES

The Florida court system has three levels, like indeed every other state and the federal government: trial, appeal, and a Supreme Court.  The first appeal may be taken by right, but the Supreme Court gets to decide whether the case should be heard one more time or not.

Or is it that simple? After all, Florida has two levels of trial courts: County Courts that hear many misdemeanors and civil claims under $15,000, and Circuit Courts that hear felony cases and larger civil actions, among other matters.  A litigant who loses in the county court may appeal, but must do so to the Circuit Court, not the appellate one.  So… are there now two appeals as of right?

The short answer is no.  Florida’s Courts of Appeals will not usually review a case that has already gone from a County Court trial to a Circuit appeal.  It will only do so if the request is made by way of a writ of certiorari and the writ meets the required standards, which are extremely stringent. Starting in County Court does not create an extra appeal.

This may seem like arcana, and to a large degree it is.  But that is the kind of things litigants should be able to rely on their appellate attorney to know, and why your appellate attorney should not necessarily be the one that represented you at trial.