Your Case Isn't Closed. How Legal Assistance Can Help You and Your Legal Counsel

Your case isn’t closed after your initial ruling or verdict. Although this ruling can feel like the end of the process, there are many more aspects in your case, including compliance monitoring for a sentence, post-judgment motions, and the potential for appeals. Having the support of legal assistance research organizations can make it easier to assess these options and support your entire legal team, especially when you know how to effectively use this support system.

Navigating Compliance Monitoring During and After an Imprisonment Sentence

Compliance monitoring most often takes the form of probation or parole in place of or after an imprisonment sentence in a criminal case. There is also compliance monitoring while you serve a sentence in jail or prison. In a civil case, compliance monitoring exists to ensure court orders are met, such as verdict payments and other requirements.

The goal of probation or parole is to help those convicted of criminal offenses reintegrate and make changes in their lives for long-term positive growth. During this supervision, committing crimes or failing to uphold the supervision term can cause serious issues, potentially resulting in a full imprisonment sentence.

The right support can help you understand the requirements of your supervision. Compliance monitoring in probation or parole can be complex, and legal assistance can help you understand what is expected of you in clearer language. They can answer any questions so that you know your responsibilities and rights.

Legal assistance can also help you document compliance monitoring while you are imprisoned or during supervision. This can help when post-conviction motions or other actions are taken. Evidence of your compliance might be able to support a request to minimize a sentence or lead to early release.

Taking Action Post-Judgment

Post-judgment motions are requests made by the defense or prosecution that can impact the judgment in a case, the sentence, or potentially the entire case. They are made with the trial court, distinct from an appeal made with an appellate court. The most common post-judgment motions are:

• Motion for a new trial. This may apply when new evidence is discovered and would affect the entire case, issues that prevented a fair trial, or other unexpected issues. It may also apply when the court makes a judgment without sufficient evidence, therefore violating the law. A motion for a new trial may be denied, granted in part, or granted in full.
• Motion to vacate. This may apply when the court’s statements about its judgment do not match the judgment itself. This motion requests a different judgment to match the reasoning.
• Motion to set aside. This may apply if one party does not understand legal issues or case facts, and this prevents that party from meeting the requirements of an order or judgment, or the other party intentionally obstructs that party’s ability to meet those requirements.

In criminal cases, post-judgment motions, called post-conviction relief, generally means assessing the options for reducing a sentence or overturning a conviction. Other forms of post-conviction relief might be secured on the basis of ineffective legal representation, misconduct, perjury, legal changes, and other issues.

There are very minimal cases where post-judgment motions are made. When you work with legal assistance, who provides research and support for your attorney, they spend time determining all potential avenues for success, including post-judgment motions. If you qualify for these motions and requesting them can help your case, your legal assistance will help you gather the information needed for your attorney to file the motion.

Appealing a Final Decision

An appeal of a court’s final decision is a request to have a higher court review the decision of the lower court that made that judgment. They are possible in both civil and criminal cases and are made when a legal error, a mistake of procedure, a misapplication, or misconduct affected the case and its outcome. A criminal case appeal may be based on the final sentence, the judgment, or the case itself.

Legal assistance organizations help in the appeals process in many ways, including:

• Reviewing the court transcripts and case information
• Connecting individuals with new legal support if an attorney does not handle appeals or the ineffectual legal support is why an appeal is needed
• Determining if a case followed procedure, if the law was applied correctly, and all other requirements were followed
• Addressing a wrongful conviction, unreasonably harsh sentence, and other miscarriages of justice
• Researching each aspect of the case to determine a basis for an appeal

The information gathered by legal assistance can greatly support an appellate attorney’s work.

Who is NLPA?

NLPA is a legal assistance, professional research, and advocacy organization. We have spent years supporting criminal defense and appellate attorneys after judgment and sentencing in civil and criminal cases. We are analysts, researchers, and advocates.

Our team conducts significant research to help you find post-conviction and post-judgment relief options, and all our work that supports attorneys is prepared by licensed lawyers. We help you understand your case, collaborate with attorneys, and give you the support you need to navigate these often stressful cases.

NLPA believes strongly in upholding justice in our legal systems and wants to help you build the strongest case you can. We look into whether you have the grounds for an appeal, determine what other forms of post-conviction relief you may deserve, and determine how to build a case to support other motions.

Work Towards a Strong Resolution and Empower Your Legal Team

It can feel like a defeat when you get a ruling or verdict in your case, and this can be especially devastating when you lose significant financial support or face a serious criminal sentence.

However, the process isn’t over. You can get exceptional support to address appeals, post-conviction relief, post-judgment motions, and compliance with judgment or sentencing. This support can help you secure better outcomes in your case and potentially overturn the ruling or verdict that was made.

At NLPA, we fiercely pursue the ideal outcome to your case. By working with skilled legal assistance like our team, your legal team is better supported and can more effectively fight for your future.

If you or a loved one is facing an overly harsh criminal sentence, a wrongful conviction, or another unfair outcome to a civil or criminal case, reach out to NLPA and learn how our researchers can assist your legal counsel.