Legal Question in Appeals and Writs in California

You have the right to appeal from this adverse judgment as long as you timely file the Notice of Appeal. The general rule is that the Notice of Appeal must be filed within 60 days from the mailing of a copy of the judgment. There are myriad exceptions to that rule, however - too many to explain here.

That all being said, the more difficult question for you is whether you have a chance of winning an appeal. The question of whether a defendant was at fault or negligent is usually a question of fact, although again there are exceptions. A jury's findings of fact are almost impossible to reverse unless there was a prejudicial error of law or discretion by the trial judge, or misconduct by the jury, etc.

Your attorney should be able to discuss this with you; if you do not have an attorney you should consult with one before proceeding.

You should also be aware of the possibility of filing a motion for a new trial within 15 days of the entry of judgment. This is an opportunity for you to clarify issues that you wish to pursue on appeal. The motion is directed to the trial judge and gives him an opportunity to set aside the jury's verdict if he thinks there was an error or the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's verdict. The prospect of the trial court granting such a motion is limited at best. Again, if you were represented by counsel he may have some opinion on the potential success of such a motion. Remember that ineffective assistance of counsel during the trial is not an issue that you can pursue on appeal. Your remedy is by suing the attorney. If your trial attorney does not support an appeal, you must monitor what is occurring after judgment. If you miss the time to appeal you are out of luck. The abstract of judgment or notice of entry of judgment will be filed in the trial court record and mailed to your trial counsel. This sets the time to appeal so you need to closely monitor the record. As Mr. Fox noted you need to consult counsel immediately if you want to appeal. The costs for appeal are significant. You as appellant are responsible for paying for and having the trial court record prepared for an appeal. Good luck.

The time limits to appeal depend on whether or not the case was a limited civil case, a limited civil case, or an unlimited civil case. Mr. Fox's 60 day time limit only applies to unlimited civil cases. Limited civil cases are governed by a much shorter 30 day time limit. I would need more information as well, such as whether you filed a motion to set aside the verdict, a motion to vacate, a motion for a new trial, etc. There are other issues as well, such as whether the court clerk entered judgment on the day the verdict was entered, and whether you were served with a document titled "notice of entry" of judgment.