​

Usually, an appellate court must consider the law in effect when it decides the appeal, but that does not mean every new statute, rule, or case automatically applies retroactively. The answer depends on whether the change is procedural or substantive, whether the legislature or court specified retroactive effect, whether vested rights or due-process limits are implicated, and whether the issue was preserved. The practical step is to notify the appellate court promptly through

Sometimes, but not automatically. If the former owner no longer owns the company, the claim, the judgment, or any concrete financial stake in the appeal, the former owner may lack appellate standing and the buyer, successor, assignee, or company may need to be substituted or joined. The answer turns on what was sold, what rights were retained, who is legally injured by the judgment, and whether the appeal still presents a live controversy that the appellate court can remedy.

After a limited appellate remand, the trial court can decide only the matters the appellate court sent back for decision, plus issues necessary to carry out the mandate. The trial court generally cannot reopen affirmed issues, expand the remand, change the appellate result, or decide matters inconsistent with the appellate court’s opinion. The controlling document is the appellate mandate, read together with the opinion, remand order, and any later appellate orders. If the re

By Biazzo Law, PLLC August 16, 2026 Biazzo Law has filed an amicus curiae brief in the United States Supreme Court in National Park Service, et al. v. National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States, No. 26A203. The case concerns the proposed White House ballroom project, the demolition of the East Wing, and whether the Executive Branch may proceed with above-ground construction while litigation continues without specific congressional authorization. Read Biazzo

A motion for rehearing asks the same court to correct or revisit its own ruling. A motion for reconsideration is a broader label that may or may not be authorized or deadline-tolling. An appeal asks a higher court to review a lower court’s order or judgment. The difference matters because the wrong filing can miss the appeal deadline, fail to preserve an issue, or leave a judgment enforceable while the client thinks the case is paused. The answer depends on… Whether the case

Sometimes. In federal court, a final judgment in one case within a group of consolidated cases is generally immediately appealable, even if the other consolidated cases continue. In Florida and North Carolina, the answer depends on the consolidation order, whether the judgment fully resolves a separate action or only part of a combined action, and whether the order is final, certified, or otherwise immediately reviewable. The safest approach is to treat the appeal deadline as

Sometimes. Emails may satisfy a signed-writing requirement if they show assent, authority, and an electronic signature or authenticated sender identity. Course of performance may also support waiver, especially where one side knowingly accepts changed performance without objection, but a no-oral-modification clause still matters and can defeat weak or informal modification arguments. The practical question is not simply whether someone sent an email or behaved differently for

A partial reversal does not automatically make either side the prevailing party for attorney’s fees. The answer usually depends on the fee statute, contract, offer-of-judgment rule, appellate mandate, and what relief remains after remand or entry of the corrected judgment. In many cases, the original fee award must be reconsidered because the appellate decision changed the practical result. A party that “won” below may lose prevailing-party status, keep it, share a mixed resu

Sometimes. In Florida and North Carolina, orders compelling privileged information may often be reviewed before final judgment because disclosure can cause “cat-out-of-the-bag” harm that cannot be undone later. In federal court, however, a party usually cannot take an immediate appeal as of right from an order requiring disclosure of attorney-client privileged material; the available routes are narrower, including mandamus, § 1292(b) certification, contempt review in limited

A bankruptcy filing may stay a pending civil appeal, but it does not stay every appeal automatically. The core question is whether the appeal is a continuation of a case or claim “against the debtor,” or whether the debtor is pursuing its own affirmative claim against someone else. If the appeal involves enforcement of a judgment against the debtor, collection activity, or continued litigation of a pre-bankruptcy claim against the debtor, the automatic stay may stop the appea

Usually, no. If a party raised an issue in the trial court but never obtained a clear ruling, the appellate court may conclude there is no reviewable error, no preserved issue, or no record showing what the trial judge actually decided. The practical answer is to fix the problem before the appeal deadline runs: request a ruling, seek clarification, file an authorized postjudgment motion when appropriate, and make sure the ruling appears in the written order, transcript, docke

Only certain timely and authorized postjudgment motions suspend, toll, reset, or postpone the civil appeal deadline. A filing called “motion for reconsideration,” “motion for clarification,” or even “motion for rehearing” does not automatically protect appellate rights. The answer depends on the forum, the order being challenged, the rule invoked, the timing of the motion, and whether the motion seeks relief that the rule actually authorizes. The Answer Depends On... Whether

A company usually has a very short window to challenge an arbitration award. Under the Federal Arbitration Act, notice of a motion to vacate, modify, or correct an award generally must be served within three months after the award is filed or delivered. Under Florida and North Carolina arbitration statutes, motions to vacate, modify, or correct an award generally must be filed within 90 days, subject to specific rules for fraud, corruption, modified awards, and governing law.

A business should choose settlement, mediation, arbitration, or trial based on expected value, enforceability, cost, speed, confidentiality, evidence strength, forum rules, and appeal risk. There is no single best path for every dispute. The right decision is the one that improves the company’s legal and business position compared with the cost and risk of continuing the fight. The Answer Depends On... Whether a company should pursue settlement, mediation, arbitration, or tri

An independent case assessment helps a company decide whether litigation is worth filing, defending, settling, delaying, or avoiding. The goal is not just to answer, “Can we sue?” or “Can we win?” The better question is whether litigation will improve the company’s legal, financial, operational, and strategic position after accounting for cost, risk, evidence, forum, collectability, and appeal exposure. The Answer Depends On... Whether a company should commit to litigation de

Before filing a major breach-of-contract lawsuit, a business should decide whether the case is economically rational, not just legally plausible. A strong contract claim can still be a poor lawsuit if damages are capped, proof is expensive, the defendant cannot pay, fees may shift, or the dispute will consume more value than it creates. The decision should account for recovery, cost, collectability, evidence, forum, settlement leverage, and appeal consequences before the comp

Before seeking a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction, the moving party should identify concrete evidence of irreparable harm. Courts generally do not grant emergency relief based on urgency alone, business frustration, or conclusory statements that damages will be “hard to calculate.” The record should show why money damages are inadequate and why immediate court intervention is necessary. The Answer Depends On... Whether irreparable harm can be shown depend

A client can often add appellate counsel without replacing existing trial counsel. The cleanest structure is a defined role: appellate co-counsel, consulting appellate counsel, brief-writing counsel, emergency appellate counsel, post-trial counsel, or Supreme Court/amicus counsel. The key is to clarify scope, authority, deadlines, communications, fees, conflicts, and who is responsible for each filing. The Answer Depends On... Whether and how a client should select appellate

A summary-judgment record survives appeal when the trial court’s ruling is tied to admissible evidence, preserved arguments, clear legal theories, and a record the appellate court can review without guessing. The work starts before the hearing, not after the order is entered. In Florida, North Carolina, and federal courts, the best summary-judgment strategy is both trial-focused and appeal-aware. The Answer Depends On... Whether a summary-judgment record will survive appeal d

Winning in the trial court does not mean the appellee can simply wait for the appellate court to affirm. The appellee must actively defend the judgment, protect the record, evaluate jurisdiction, address stay and bond issues, preserve alternative grounds, and decide whether a cross-appeal is necessary. The appellee’s goal is to give the appellate court a clear, legally sound path to affirmance. The Answer Depends On... Whether an appellee must take immediate action depends on