A recent Pennsylvania Superior Court case, S.S. v. T.J., reinforces the importance of consulting with an attorney in order to preserve issues a party wishes to appeal. (Full case can be found here.)
In S.S. v. T.J., Mother and Father were divorced and had two daughters of the marriage. In September 2017, a Judge issued a Custody Order that provided Mother with primary physical custody during the school year and Father with custody during the summer and on long weekends and holidays. The Order also required that the children be encouraged communicate with the non-custodial parent daily via Skype, text, or phone for a duration to be determined using common sense. In November 2017, Father filed a Petition for Modification for Custody that alleged Mother was improperly limiting his phone communication with the children to 30 minutes a day. The trial court rejected Father’s Petition. Father immediately filed an appeal pro se, without the assistance of an attorney. Father’s petition for appeal was convoluted and lengthy. The petition did not solely focus on the issues Father wanted to appeal, but instead restated his testimony and championed his interpretation of the evidence, which was contrary to the lower court’s interpretation.
In Pennsylvania, an appeal must specifically, concisely, and clearly identify each issue the appellant wants to raise. (Specifically, it must comply with rule, Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b), and the accompanying case law.) Any issue that is not specifically, concisely, and clearly raised or causes the court to guess the scope of issue is waived and may not be appealed in the future.
In S.S. v. T.J., the Court determined that Father’s petition was “neither concise nor sufficiently specific and coherent to allow [a court] to understand the specific allegations.” The issues Father wanted to raise on appeal were “lost in the midst of the rambling narration” of his appeal. The Court denied his appeal. He got no special treatment or break because he was appealing pro se (without an attorney).
Filing an appeal does not provide a chance to retry your case. Rather, you are attempting to convince the appellate court that the trial court made a mistake of law or obvious mistake of fact that would have changed the outcome. Additionally, you have a very limited time in which to file an appeal. If you believe the trial court made an error, you should consult with an attorney right away to determine your options.
