Two Reasons You May Be Required To Obtain An Appeal Bond

One of the benefits of the American court system is that you can appeal your lawsuit to a higher court if you lose your case. However, you may encounter some challenges when exercising this particular right, and one of those challenges is you may be required to obtain an appeal bond. Here are two reasons the court may flag your case with this particular condition:

Your Case Appears Frivolous

Approximately 15 million civil lawsuits are filed every year, and not all of them are legitimate. If the court feels your case is frivolous or will otherwise simply waste the court's time and resources handling it, the judge may require you to obtain an appeal bond before or when you file your paperwork to continue the case.

There are many reasons the court may feel the case is frivolous. The case may not have any (or enough) merit or the law may prohibit the plaintiff from bringing such a case to court in the first place. More often than not, though, the judge may feel there is a high probability—based on the evidence submitted—that the party appealing the case will receive the same decision from the court of appeals, thus wasting the court's time.

The only way to avoid having your case flagged as requiring an appeal bond for this reason is to show the case does, in fact, have merit or that you may actually win the case. This may be done by showing the court there is more proof supporting your claim. For instance, if you lost the case because you couldn't admit certain evidence, you could argue why that evidence should be considered in the appeal and how it may positively impact your case.

There's a Concern You Won't Pay

Another reason why you may be required to get an appeal bond is if the court or other parties in the case have reason to believe you may not pay the judgment against you if the appeal rules in the other person's favor again.

Filing an appeal can sometimes stay a judgment, meaning you won't have to pay the other party any money until the court reaches a decision in the appeal. If it appears you're using the appeal to postpone payment so you can eliminate your ability to pay or there are other factors in play that may result in insolvency, you may be ordered to obtain an appeal bond.

For instance, if you're being sued by multiple people, there may be a concern that you'll run out of money before the appeal can be decided on if the other plaintiffs win their lawsuits against you. In this case, the court may order you to get an appeal bond so that the plaintiff will still get paid even if you go bankrupt.

To learn more about appeal bonds or to obtain one for your case, contact an insurance company that specializes in court bonds.