Appellate Matters
This section provides general information about appellate matters.
The information provided in the Self-Help Center is not legal advice.
The laws of Michigan do not allow the employees of the court or the
judge to give you legal advice. You should consult with an attorney
concerning your legal issues, but you do not need an attorney to appeal
a case. If you proceed with an appellate case without an attorney, you are acting as your
own attorney.
The following is a brief description of an appellate case. There is
no specific information available in this Self-Help Center to aid you
with the entire legal process. Because of the complexity of appellate
cases and the importance of the outcome, it
is advisable that you proceed through an attorney.
Generally, an appellate case is filed because the party appealing is
not satisfied with the outcome of a case to which they were a party.
If you are the one appealing the case, you are called the appellant,
and the other party is the appellee. The appellant is responsible for
paying a filing fee as well as the cost of serving the appellee(s).
Types of Appellate Cases
The most common types of cases are criminal and civil but almost
any case can be appealed.
Where to File Appellate Cases
If you had a case in the district court and want to appeal the case,
it must be filed with the circuit court in the county where the district
court case was decided. There is one exception: if your case was heard
before a magistrate, you may appeal the magistrate's decision in the
distirct court where the magistrate serves by filing a written claim
of appeal within 7 days of the entry of the magistrate's decision. Appellate
rules applicable to circuit court are Michigan
Court Rules 7.101 through 7.105.
If you had a case in the circuit court and want to appeal the case,
it would typically be a matter for the Court of Appeals. Appellate rules
applicable to the Court of Appeals are Michigan
Court Rules 7.201 through 7.219. The Court of Appeals publishes
a "Pro Per Manual" to aid nonattorneys in pursuing an appeal
in that court. That manual and other helpful information is available
on the Court
of Appeals website. A hard copy of the manual may be picked up at
any of the Court's
four district offices.
If you had a case in the probate court and want to appeal the case,
depending on the type of case, it must be filed with the circuit court
in the county where the probate case was decided or in the Court of
Appeals. See Michigan
Court Rule 5.801 for information about where to file your appeal.
Processing Appellate Cases Generally
The processing of appellate cases is complex and the assistance of
an attorney is recommended. In general, to initiate an appeal, a claim
of appeal or application for leave to appeal must be filed with the
appropriate appellate court. Care must be taken to comply with the
applicable filing deadlines for initiating the appeal to avoid affecting
your rights to appeal the lower court decision. The applicable time
frames for filing an appeal are stated in Michigan Court Rules.
Once an appeal is initiated, the appellant will typically have additional
obligations, such as making arrangements to have the transcript filed
and filing an appellate brief. The brief informs the appellate court
of the issues to be resolved in the appeal. The appellee may file
a brief in response, but generally such a brief is not required. When
the briefs have been filed, a hearing may be held to allow the parties
to present their case to the court. The appeal is concluded when the
court issues an order or opinion resolving the matter.
The appellant's obligations must be performed within the time frames
provided in the applicable court rules. Depending on the type of case
and appellate court, there will be different time frames and different
requirements. Failure to comply with the time frames and requirements
of the court rules may result in penalties including the dismissal
of the appeal.
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