katsr Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 I won my cases with Toyota Financial and a smalltime CA and both filed appeals in the 11th hour! They know very well I live in Virginia now. What are my options?? Are there any other than spending money I don't have to fly back to California to go to court again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momof5 Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 You don't have to fly back. Appeals are not generally the 'hearing' that you get in first court. The other side has to appeal that the Judge made an error of law. The Appeals court will decide if the judge did or not. They will either affirm the decision or remand for the prior court to amend. You can file a response in the appellate court, but you want to get a copy of what error of law that the defendants are quoting. You can MAIL it to the court for filing along with the filing fee. Due to distance, it might be a good idea to sign up with pacer so that you can check out the documents online.Let us know what the defendants are claiming.BTW, if you got your judgment in CA, the defendants have no choice but to appeal it there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nascar Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 You can file a response in the appellate courtYou had better file a response if you expect to get your lower court decision affirmed. Study the Rules of Appellate Procedure in your jurisdiction. You'll find there are lots of little details you need to pay attention to. Some even dictate the color and type of folder your brief is submitted in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katsr Posted February 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 Thanks so much for the replies. These are small claims cases, I should have mentioned that before. Does that change what I should do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katsr Posted February 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 I will definitely file responses. I called the Small Claims Adviser in Calif. today and received a very flippant, "Well you don't have any choice but to come back and present your case again or hire an attorney." I'm sure the commissioner is aware that the reason the appeals were filed was because I am no longer in the state. The poor woman had to hear 6 cases from me and we got along pretty well. Do I need to hire an attorney or can I handle this from home in VA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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