Our Firm Will Aid You Through Appeals
If you have received an unfavorable outcome in a divorce or family law case, an appeal may be your best hope for overturning the decision. Appeals can be brought in cases wherein you believe the judge made an error that is serious enough to adversely impact the outcome. To be successful, however, you need skilled legal counsel in your corner that can persuade the appellate court to reverse the trial court ruling.
At Reich, Jumbeck, Stole & Reeb, LLP, our divorce and family law appeals attorneys have over five decades of combined experience practicing in Northern Illinois. Our full-service legal team has a strong track record of success in terms of preparing and arguing cases in front of the Third District Appellate Court in Ottawa, Illinois. We work closely with our clients to provide the high quality representation they need on appeal. We also receive many referrals from other attorneys in the area who do not handle these types of cases on the appellate level.
How Appeals Work
There are several areas of a family or divorce case where a judge may have made an error and an appeal may be warranted. These include:
- Equitable property division;
- Enforceability of prenuptial and postnuptial agreements;
- Child custody orders (or allocation of parental responsibility agreements);
- Parentage and paternity decisions;
- Alimony/maintenance and child support agreements (including college contributions); and
- Post-decree modifications.
Bringing a case in front of an appellate court requires understanding an entirely different set of rules and procedures than those that are applicable at the lower court level. In an appeal, the case is not retried. In other words, no new evidence can be presented and no new witnesses are called to testify. Instead, the appellate court reviews the trial records from the lower court and examines how the law was applied by the trial judge. To obtain a favorable decision, it generally must be show that the trail judge made an error in applying the law or facts that are serious enough to change the outcome of the case. Examples include: a miscalculation of alimony or child support obligations, incorrectly characterizing certain property as marital assets, incorrect marital asset valuations, and many others.
Working With Our Firm Is The Right Move
At Reich, Jumbeck, Stole & Reeb, LLP, we understand the impact an unjust ruling can have on your future and the future of those closest to you. Over the years, our team has handled numerous highly complex divorces and appeals, and we put this experience to work to help determine if you are likely to prevail at the appellate level. Contact us today at 815-770-2669 or email us to discuss your case. From our office in Joliet, our skilled family law attorneys serve clients in communities throughout Will County and Grundy County, Illinois.