Harrisburg Appellate Attorneys

Tenaciously Advocating for Your Rights

Nobody is perfect. If we lived in an ideal society with perfect people, we wouldn’t need a judicial system. However, our system of justice is predicated on the flawed nature of people. Even judges—some of the most respected legal professionals in the country—get things wrong sometimes. However, when a court’s decision involves a clear error of law or abuse of judicial discretion, it is necessary to avail one’s self of the appeals process in order to get things right.

Appellate practice requires a sophisticated understanding of complex procedural rules and substantive law. Non-compliance with these rules can endanger a person’s case. If you believe a judicial decision or order is wrong, it is in your best interest to consult an experienced appellate attorney in Harrisburg.

Why Scaringi Law for your Appeal?

At Scaringi Law, we are a full-service law firm that handles various types of law from family law, to criminal defense, to civil and commercial litigation to just about every type of law in between. If your legal rights are threatened by an unfavorable judicial ruling, we can help continue your pursuit of justice by appealing your case to a higher court. Our dedicated attorneys have experience practicing before Pennsylvania’s appellate courts, as well as the U.S. federal courts of appeal. Many of our attorneys are also licensed to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In handling your appeal, our appellate attorneys collaborate with our trial attorneys who practice in the area of law that is the subject of the appeal. This gives our appellate attorneys unique insights into the trial practice. Because we are both trial and appellate attorneys, and because we employ a collaborative approach, we are well-positioned to get you the best results upon appeal. We are devoted to advocating for your rights before all the appellate courts, potentially impacting the legal rights of others for years to come.

For more information about our appellate services at Scaringi Law, call us at (717) 775-7195 or contact us online today.

Comprehensive Appellate Representation

An appellate case allows the party to contest the decisions and orders of the lower trial court. In Pennsylvania, the Superior Court and Commonwealth Court have the responsibility of hearing appeals cases. Furthermore, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania may review the appellate decisions from those courts. In the federal justice system, the U.S. Courts of Appeal and U.S. Supreme Court have the power of appellate review.

When a trial court—sometimes referred to as the “lower court”—has misapplied a clearly established legal rule, committed an error of law, or rendered a decision that has no reasonable basis in the facts, you should consult a Scaringi Law attorney about your right to appeal. When a trial court’s judicial discretion is called into question, the court of appeals can take a comprehensive approach to review the record and the trial court’s decisions.

At Scaringi Law, we provide appellate legal representation to both the appellant (the loser at the trial court level) and the appellee (the winner at the trial court level) concerning the following:

Post-Trial and Post-Sentencing Motions. Some clients retain our appellate attorneys immediately after trial or sentencing if things have gone against them. Post-trial or post-sentencing motions must be timely filed in the trial court in order to preserve your right to appeal. The deadlines to take these necessary actions are very short. Time is of the essence. If things did not go your way at trial or sentencing, contact a Scaringi Law appellate attorney immediately.
Notice of Appeal: Many other clients will retain Scaringi Law appellate attorneys to perfect and pursue the matter in the appellate courts. We do so by filing the Notice of Appeal. Again, time is of the essence. If you miss the deadline to file your Notice of Appeal, you will forever lose your appellate rights.
Concise Statement of Matters Complained of Upon Appeal. In most appellate cases, the trial court judge will require the appellant to file a Concise Statement of Matters Complained of Upon Appeal. This is a critical document that must lay out the issues you wish to appeal, present those issues in the proper way and be timely filed, otherwise you will lose your right to appeal.
Preparing briefs for appellants: The party who files for an appeal of a court order or verdict is called the “appellant,” who has the burden of showing how the trial court erred and why the Superior Court or Commonwealth Court should reverse the lower court’s decision. We have experience drafting briefs for appellants and putting together a comprehensive record of the lower court’s proceedings for review by the appellate court.
Preparing briefs for appellees: The party who is contesting the appellant’s appeal is called the “appellee.” The appellee is usually responsible for defending against the appellant’s claims and explaining why the lower court’s actions were not erroneous. If you are the appellee, our legal team can develop effective counter-arguments against the appellant’s claims to preserve your rights, which the lower court vindicated.
Preparing and conducting oral argument: In addition to filing a written brief with the court, the parties may argue their cases in person before a panel of judges. Our skilled lawyers are prepared to argue the issues of your case before these judges to help ensure you get the legal relief you deserve.
Civil appeals: We offer appellate services for all our major civil practice areas, including family law (divorce, support, custody, termination of parental rights, protection from abuse, child abuse, dependency and delinquency), civil and commercial litigation, consumer, firearms, real estate, employment law, intellectual property, tax, and more. We are prepared to take your case to the next judicial level to vindicate your rights.
- Representative Cases:
  - Firearms & Mental Health: Scaringi Law successfully appealed a trial court decision denying our client’s petition to expunge his commitment under the Pennsylvania Mental Health Procedures Act. We secured a reversal and remand instructing the trial court to grant our client’s petition thus restoring his 2^nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
  - Custody: Scaringi Law successfully defeated the appeal of a trial court decision awarding our client – the father – primary physical custody of the subject child. The mother had left the father when pregnant and refused to inform the father about the birth or location of his child. We successfully obtained primary physical custody for the father and then successfully defended against mother’s appeal.
  - Child Support: Scaringi Law successfully enforced an agreement against a father to pay his share of the child’s college expenses and successfully defended the trial court’s award in favor of our client – the mother – on appeal.
  - Real Estate: Scaringi Law successfully had a trial court order on damages in a real estate case reversed and remanded on the grounds the damages ordered were not proven with reasonable certainty.
  - Defamation: Scaringi Law successfully obtained a judgment declaring the opposing parties had defamed our client and awarding monetary damages. Scaringi Law then successfully defended against the appeal filed by the defendants and in which the trial court judge even requested a remand for another hearing. The Superior Court ruled in our favor on all claims.
  - Liquor: Scaringi Law obtained a reversal of the trial court’s denial of our client’s liquor license renewal and an order commanding the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to renew the liquor license. The Commonwealth Court agreed with our contention that the violations were not substantial enough to justify a non-renewal order.
  - Liquor: Scaringi Law successfully appealed to the trial court the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s denial of our client’s person-to-person liquor license transfer. The PLCB appealed to the Commonwealth Court and then withdrew its appeal after granting our client a Conditional Licensing Agreement.
Criminal appeals: The appeals system is extremely important for criminal cases. In addition to providing appellate representation to civil matters, we are ready, willing, and able to advance your defense before the Pennsylvania state and federal appellate courts in cases such as drug crimes, sexual offenses, sexual offense registration such as the Sexual Offense Registration Act, firearm violations, tax crimes, and more. We also handle Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) matters to challenge the effectiveness of your trial counsel. Several of our attorneys have many decades of criminal defense experience. They collaborate with our criminal appeals attorney who is a former 15-year prosecutor who knows what the prosecutors’ and judges’ errors typically are and where to find them.
- Representative Cases:
  - SORNA Appeal. Scaringi Law successfully handled one of the lead cases involving Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender Registration Act. The Pennsylvania Superior Court agreed that SORNA was unconstitutional as to our client because it violated the ex post facto clause of the Pennsylvania and United States Constitutions.
  - DUI. Scaringi Law attorney, Anthony Miley, successfully appealed the sentence of a client who was convicted and sentenced without having the benefit of Drug and Alcohol Assessment as required by the DUI statute. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed, vacated the sentence and remanded it to the trial court and ordered that the defendant receive a Drug and Alcohol Assessment prior to sentencing.
  - Search and Seizure. Scaringi Law attorney, Anthony Miley, successfully challenged an unlawful search and seizure of his client’s purse. His client was the passenger in a vehicle that was stopped. The police officer took the client’s purse and searched it. The client was convicted of possession of a controlled substance. Attorney Miley appealed to the Superior Court and the PA Supreme Court affirmed that the search was unlawful, and the client’s conviction was vacated.

Appealing to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court: The decisions of the Pennsylvania Superior Court and the Commonwealth Courts may be appealed up to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. If the issue is important enough for the Supreme Court to review, we can advance your case before the highest court in the state.
Federal appeals: When a federal court’s decision or order is so erroneous as to warrant reversal, it requires experience with federal appellate procedures. At Scaringi Law, many of our attorneys are licensed to practice before U.S. district courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals. Cases regarding criminal procedure, federal statutes, and constitutional rights, often make their way to federal appellate courts, and sometimes even the U.S. Supreme Court. We have the knowledge, experience, and confidence to take your case to the highest courts in our country to protect your legal rights.

Consult an Experienced Appellate Lawyers in Harrisburg at Scaringi Law

Your legal and constitutional rights deserve respect and serious protection. If you are looking for a legal advocate who is prepared to take your case and argue it before any Pennsylvania appellate court and even up to the highest courts in the land, you should call Scaringi Law. We have the training, background, and skill to advance your legal interests throughout the Pennsylvania and federal court systems.

To ask about our initial consults, call Scaring Law at(717) 775-7195 or contact us online today.