X is appealing final decision, how to proceed?

[JT]

Hi Soc, I hope you are doing well. We received a final order in Sept 05 from judge and X is appealling to 2nd DCA in Florida. I do not have any money for a lawyer, so I need to proceed 'pro se'. My last lawyer said that the final order was a good concrete order and should not be appealable.  Questions below.

1) Do you know where I can find more info on appeal process in Florida?

2) Should I worry about this much?

3) She has paid one month CS, but not the arrears, can she be held in contempt?

Thanks Soc, JT

[socrateaser]

>Hi Soc, I hope you are doing well. We received a final order
>in Sept 05 from judge and X is appealling to 2nd DCA in
>Florida. I do not have any money for a lawyer, so I need to
>proceed 'pro se'. My last lawyer said that the final order was
>a good concrete order and should not be appealable.  Questions
>below.
>
>1) Do you know where I can find more info on appeal process in
>Florida?

http://www.floridabar.org/TFB/TFBResources.nsf/Attachments/830A6BC6B90DA05685256B29004BFAC0/$FILE/Appellate.pdf?OpenElement

>
>2) Should I worry about this much?

I don't remember your case, so I can't say what the chances of prevailing on appeal are. However, appeals are extremely costly ($10K+), so if the appeal is actually filed with the 2nd DCA, and you've been served, then I would wonder why an appellate lawyer would have taken the case, if it really is a "good concrete order."

Now, if this is all just speculation at the moment, then I'd say, don't worry about it until you're actually served with a notice of appeal. Actually, I wouldn't worry even after you're served with notice. I'd worry when you receive a brief or a letter from the court instructing you as to your time for filing a responsive appelate brief -- the notice of appeal just preserves a party's rights while they try to find an appellate lawyer who will take the case. Now, if the notice comes from a different attorney than the trial attorney, then, I'd worry a bit, because that means your ex has already retained an appellate lawyer, so you can likely expect more legal process.

So, if you decide that this appeal is really happening, then I'd be getting a second opinion from an appellate attorney about the chances of your order being reversed, and the cost/benefit ratio of putting up a fight vs. trying to settle. If you prevail on appeal you "may" get reimbursed for your attorney fees. But, you may not, so the question is: at what point do you offer a compromise in order to get rid of the problem?

Food 4 thought.


>
>3) She has paid one month CS, but not the arrears, can she be
>held in contempt?

If her non-payment is in violation of the court orders and she has the ability to pay but is willfully refusing to do so, then that's contempt.

[JT]

Thanks Soc, just to note the X is 'pro se' and is not a legal eagle, so to speak. She is not happy with the final order and has some psychiatric challenges that the Psychologist noted during the Custody eval. So, I will study up on the procedures for the Appeal and wait for the Brief to arrive. I will then 'answer' the brief and see what happens then. Does the court wait until it has both the brief and answer before deciding if the appeal has any merit? Thanks again, JT

[socrateaser]

>Thanks Soc, just to note the X is 'pro se' and is not a legal
>eagle, so to speak. She is not happy with the final order and
>has some psychiatric challenges that the Psychologist noted
>during the Custody eval. So, I will study up on the procedures
>for the Appeal and wait for the Brief to arrive. I will then
>'answer' the brief and see what happens then. Does the court
>wait until it has both the brief and answer before deciding if
>the appeal has any merit? Thanks again, JT

For a typical appeal, the court will wait until it has the brief and a response, as well as any reply brief from the original appellant. You can expect that the Appellate court administrator will reject anything that's not formatted to the court's specifications. This in itself isn't an easy task. Furthermore, your X will probably need to purchase a transcript of the trial court record to submit on appeal -- that won't be cheap, either.

Anyway, unless your X is a genius, a lawyer, or has had considerable experience working with an appellate lawyer as a legal assistant, there is almost no chance that she will be able to figure out how to appeal the judgment.