Reversals Are Rare. We Get Them.

A direct appeal begins with a notice of appeal, and in New York that notice must be filed within 30 days of sentencing. Miss that window and the right to a direct appeal can be lost, though limited relief to file late is sometimes available. Other avenues, such as a motion to vacate the judgment under CPL 440, are not tied to that same 30-day clock and can be brought later, but they carry their own strategic timing. The practical takeaway is simple: the sooner a record is reviewed, the more options remain open. If a sentence has just come down, the clock is already running.

Appeals are won on the strength of the record and the law, not on sympathy, and most convictions are affirmed. That is the honest baseline. What changes the odds is whether a real, preserved legal error exists and whether it is argued precisely to the right court. When it is, appellate courts do reverse. People v. Williams is proof: a unanimous reversal and a new trial ordered in the Appellate Division, Fourth Department. The right question is not whether appeals usually win, but whether your record contains an error worth arguing, and that is answered by reading the record, not by a general statistic.

A direct appeal challenges what already appears in the trial record: the rulings the judge made, evidence admitted or excluded, the charge to the jury, the sentence. It is argued to an appellate court on that record alone, with no new evidence. A CPL 440 motion is different. It raises problems that do not appear on the face of the record, for example a conflict, newly discovered evidence, or ineffective assistance that happened off the transcript. The two tracks run on different rules and different timelines, and in many cases both matter. Choosing the right one, or pursuing both in the right order, is where the work begins.

Often, yes. A guilty plea does not automatically erase the right to appeal, though many plea agreements include a waiver of appeal that narrows what a court will consider. Even with a waiver, certain issues survive, such as the legality of the sentence, the voluntariness of the plea itself, and constitutional defects a waiver cannot reach. Whether your plea left a path open is a record question, and it is worth having that record read before assuming the door is closed.

Appellate fees depend on the size of the record, the complexity of the issues, and the court involved, so a flat number quoted sight unseen would be meaningless. What you should expect in return is concrete: a careful review of the record, a candid assessment of whether a viable issue exists, and, where one does, a brief built to persuade the specific court that will decide it. The first step is a review of the record and a straight answer about what can and cannot be argued. That conversation is where every sound appellate decision starts.