Getting convicted for a federal crime in district court is not a situation that defendants want to find themselves in. However, the conviction or the sentence that it leads to do not have to be the end of your case. You have a right to appeal your conviction or your sentence in federal court. Invoking that right can be the most important part of your defense strategy.

Hiring a federal appellate practice with an effective federal appeals lawyer is usually the first step toward challenging your conviction or sentence.

Here are five things that the federal appeals attorneys at the national law firm Oberheiden P.C. think that all defendants should be aware of as they pursue this important step in the criminal justice system.

1. You Do Not Have Much Time to Invoke Your Right to Appeal

One of the most important things to know about this crucial part of the process is that your time is very limited. Federal appellate courts have a tight timetable and you are required to follow it, or else your appeal will be disregarded, no matter how strong of a case you might have.

According to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Rule 4, you first need to file a Notice of Appeal with the federal district court that held the trial that led to your conviction or your sentencing hearing. This Notice of Appeal has to be received by the federal court within 14 days, giving you very little time to decide whether you want to appeal the outcome of your case or not.

While you do not need to have federal appeals attorney lined up at this point – your trial lawyer can file the Notice of Appeal on your behalf – you will soon afterwards: The Notice of Appeal tells the district court that you intend to challenge the outcome of your case. The court will then gather the record that was created during your trial and forward it on to the appropriate appellate court. Under Rule 31 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, once that record is filed with the appellate court, your federal criminal appeals lawyer has 40 days to serve and file the appellate brief. This brief is the central document in your federal criminal appeal, and you should give your federal appeals lawyers as much time as possible to make it as strong and persuasive as it can be.

2. Trial Attorneys and Federal Appeal Lawyers Have Very Different Skillsets

You may have heard the adage that not all lawyers are the same. Some are criminal defense attorneys, while others are tax lawyers and still others draft contracts. This holds true for both legal subject matter and the stages of litigation: A trial lawyer is extremely different from federal appellate lawyers because the skill set that each part of the criminal justice system requires of them is very different. Federal appeals lawyers should guide you through the entire criminal appeals process, including presenting appeals to the United States Supreme Court if necessary.

As Dr. Nick Oberheiden, the founding partner of the national federal appeals defense firm Oberheiden P.C., explains, “Trial lawyers need to think quickly and express themselves clearly in front of a judge and jury. It is an energetic enterprise that requires an outgoing personality. Federal criminal appeal lawyers need to be exceptional researchers and excellent writers who can spend days researching a niche topic that you are using as the grounds for your appeal. Very few federal criminal defense attorneys can do both of these activities well.”

3. Many Law Firms Have Both Trial and Appellate Teams

For this reason, many large federal criminal defense firms have both a trial team and a team of federal appeal attorneys. This setup facilitates conversation between the teams as the case progresses and it becomes clear which issues may need to be resolved on appeal. It also lets each style of attorney play to his or her strengths – whether it be in the big courtroom at the trial court in front of a jury or the small Circuit Court of Appeals.

4. Bringing In a New Firm May Be In Your Interest

Even if your defense firm does have multiple teams that focus on the different levels of your federal criminal case, it may still be wise to bring on a different firm for your appellate counsel. While the communication between the trial and appellate wings of a defense firm can be beneficial, the reality is that all trial counsel should be preserving the legal issues that are the most appropriate to raise for a strong appeal. Additionally, there is something to be said for hiring a different team of lawyers for your appeal in order to bring in a new perspective to your federal criminal case.

In the end, the decision to use new lawyers for your appeal should be based largely on your feel for how the trial went. If you think that the law firm that handled your trial did a good job and that the setback or conviction was not their fault, you may want to stay with them. However, if the grounds for your appeal is ineffective assistance of counsel, you will want to find someone else to represent you.

5. Your Trial Counsel Needs to Set the Table for the Appeal

Perhaps one of the least obvious things about hiring a federal appeals lawyer is that your federal appeals attorney is reliant, at least to some extent, on how your federal trial went and how well your trial counsel set up the case for the federal criminal appeal.

In order start the federal appeals process with a sentence or a federal conviction or criminal conviction, you need to prove that you have a valid grounds for your appeal. With only small exceptions, in order to have grounds to appeal a decision that was made at the federal district courts level the legal issues must have been raised for the court to decide. You generally cannot bring up a new legal issue that was never considered during trial as your grounds for appealing the outcome.

This means that your trial counsel must raise appealable issues during the trial process. They have to take these steps, even if doing so will get them nowhere at trial and they know that their efforts are in vain.

Importantly, if they fail to take these steps, it can put your appellate lawyer in an extremely difficult position, where your best chances for success are largely unavailable because the legal issues that were most in your favor were not preserved during trial and cannot be used to support an appeal.