Questions about appealing

Not long. The deadline to file a notice of appeal is short, a matter of weeks, and it runs from the day the judgment or order is entered. It's rarely extended. Call as soon as you have the date.

No. The appellate court reads the record of what happened at trial and decides whether a legal error changed the outcome. There are no witnesses and no new evidence.

It depends entirely on the record, and most appeals are affirmed. Theodora gives you a written view after she reads the transcript, including the issues she would not raise and why.

Only in narrow ways, usually about the sentence or an issue reserved when the plea was entered. Other problems with a plea are often raised in a post-conviction motion instead.

Theodora takes cases with an issue worth a court's attention, and tells clients plainly when she doesn't see one. Sometimes the right advice is not to appeal.

In a written agreement, after she has seen the judgment and the size of the record. It sets out what each stage covers. Transcripts and filing fees are separate costs.

Yes, or work beside them. Many appeals are handled together: the trial lawyer knows the facts and the client, and Theodora writes the brief.

Yes. Appeals are filed and argued on paper and by video in many courts, so clients across the state work with her without coming to the office.