Aside from the rare legal all-star, in position to pick and choose cases, the rest of us inevitably have to confront losing. After all, it has been said that only lawyers who are not trusted with hard cases never lose. Losing at trial often means having to take appeals, and that means dealing with preservation of issues and with Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925.
At this point, if not before, it is a good idea to bring an appellate specialist, or at least a colleague not personally involved in the case, on board. Particularly in long, complex trials, competent trial counsel will have preserved a large number of instances where the court has done, or allowed opposing counsel to do, things that seem both prejudicial and erroneous. With trial counsel’s legal and emotional investment the unsuccessful courtroom venture, trial counsel may be unwilling—or, for strategic reasons, unable—to let go of numerous unfavorable rulings and contested issues.
