How long will an appeal process take from the time of lodging the application until a decision is made?

• The length of time for any court case will vary depending on the complexity of the evidence and the number of issues in dispute.
• On average an appeal is quicker than the original litigation (court case) because in most cases the appellate court will be working from the papers such as the transcript of the trial and written submissions rather than hearing the witnesses and evidence for themselves.
• This is also why appellate courts are generally reluctant to disturb the findings of a trial judge on issues of character or credibility or other similar factual findings because the trial judge had the advantage of seeing and hearing the witnesses and the presentation of the evidence at first hand.
• If you are considering an appeal and want to change lawyers our Phone a Lawyer service may be able to put you in touch with a lawyer for a preliminary consultation.