Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Summary judgments are appealable in much the same way as judgments after trial. You start the process by filing a timely notice of appeal (be careful -- calculating the due date can be complicated!), but that's the easy part.

There are several other important preliminary steps that you will have to take soon after filing the notice. Later, you will have to prepare and file formal written briefs. Crafting persuasive briefs requires both technical skill and a command of the applicable law.

You should hire a lawyer to represent you if at all possible -- and preferably one with a great deal of experience handling appeals. Please feel free to contact me directly. I am certified by the State Bar as a specialist in appellate practice, and I have 17 years of experience in the field.

You probably won't be successful because appellate courts only review "errors of law." If the court merely got the facts wrong, you'll lose. The place to win your case is in the trial court.

You appeal by retaining an attorney or by very quickly learning how to perfect an appeal. Watch out for legal time limits.

Actually, Mr. Stone is wrong. The Court of Appeal reviews summary judgment rulings "de novo" which means that you get a true "second bite". Put another way, summary judgment appeals are all treated as raising issues of law, and appeals from summary judgment motions can be won, and often are.

That being said, your question is broad and the answer is complex. I am a certified appellate law specialist, and I have been practicing appeals for 25 years. Please see my website at www.LosAngelesAppeals.com for more information. You can call my office for a no charge, no obligation consultation: 310-284-3184.

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Contact Mr. Fox or Hoffman to find out whether your case is worth appealing or not. You need to give them the facts of the case and what happened procedurally.

First of all, you don't appeal from the order granting summary judgment. You appeal from the judgment that is entered after the summary judgment. I suggest having an appellate lawyer review your case immediately to determine if it is worth the expense in appealing.