When a divorce lawyer is not an appeal lawyer (s/he does not do appeals), is this usually normal? Is it ok to go with such a

It is not uncommon for an attorney to only do work on the trial level.

Yes - most appellate lawyers handle appellate cases only...and most matrimonial lawyers do not handle appeals from their own cases. There are exceptions, but not many.

The short answer is: yes, it is okay. Any attorney authored by the state to practice law may not only do so at the office level, lower court level, or the appellate level (given the lawyer is good standing etc.) But does that mean that most lawyers prepare appeals? No. The appellate process is governed by very specific rules and procedures, the failure to follow which could be "fatal" to the appeal. Additionally, any appeal process will likely be quite time-intensive with a rather large amount of writing and overall preparation to move forward. This, combined with the overall time it takes to handle the appeal, as well as some attorneys' simple non-familiarity with appeals leads to referrals to other attorneys that generally focus their entire practice (or a very substantial part of their practice) solely to appeals. So as a practical matter, it might be a very good idea to have an experienced appellate lawyer (who knows you particular area of law you are involved in) to handle the appeal. No matter how much you desire the continued use of a lawyer from the lower court level, if that lawyer actually states they would rather refer the case at that point to an appellate lawyer, or even says they can't or won't do it, there is no reason at all NOT to rely on an experienced appellate lawyer. I wish you all the best. BPG

Any lawyer can decide to handle an appeal, but experience and familiarity with the process is important. Appeals are in a different court than your divorce and involve much more writing and research; some attorneys out there specialize in appeals. If for some reason you needed an appeal after your divorce trial, your divorce attorney may be able to help you locate an appellate lawyer, or you can use the Find a Lawyer tab here. Good luck.

This is normal and yes, you can go with such a lawyer. The federal government injected its family values into the general population through its family courts. Some of these policies include the thinking that dads need to support their kids by way of child support orders whether or not they are already supporting their kids (CSSA), for example. There are many of these values being injected. Another one is the need to evict a father from his home upon the mother's call to police alleging 'abuse' with a kitchen knife (VAWA). Joe Biden thought that one up. There are the 'no drop' criminal prosecutions which drain a family's resources for defense lawyers. There is the bungling at the federal level: drug busts, gun busts, immigration busts and sex offense busts. Mandatory minimum sentencing has made us the incarceration nation for the pettiest of offenses typically involving no victims -- the new Soviet Union run by a gulag's worth of imbeciles in Washington. The big appellate disconnect took place after this injection. A new style of governing though courts occurred (the Judge Judy dressing down of the common man), but appellate practice remained in the dark ages. There are no computer filings in appellate court. The court requires one original and nine copies of a 'brief'. The 'brief' has to comply with rules as to word count, headings, form and content. There will be a clerk's person at the main desk who will scrutinize the 'brief' and the appendix. There is a fee of $315 and typically, these briefs are read by seasonal augments, not the judiciary. Typically, the clerk signs off on orders, not the judiciary. Typically, these orders feature copied/pasted entries, cases and formulaic sentences indicating a detachment from the reality facing the litigant. I may also add that the new monopoly is the appellate division: reviewing judges' orders, admitting and disciplining lawyers, managing psychologists, managing assigned attorneys and on and on. It's a one-stop-shop capping and keeping under wraps the activities mandated by the Fed. So the politician's rewrite of American law that coerces behavior using judges failed to bring the appellate court into modern times and to react to local misconduct. This leaves citizens in the lurch as they fumble to find justice in their cases which they never do. All they know is that their money is gone, their kids are gone and their futures are uncertain. Do not fall for this. Vote in a new system and do not hold it against a lawyer that his practice is somehow limited. It is not limited: it is more focused and concentrated so as to provide a better service to you.

Some lawyers only do trial-level work. Others just do appeals. Some do both. If you find a lawyer you're comfortable with that does both, you might end up saving some money. That lawyer will already be familiar with your case and have the heavy lifting done for appellate briefs.

I agree that the retained divorce attorney who knows your case best should be able to do the appeal but if he does not usually do appeals you should retain an appellate attorney. Perfecting an appeal is specialized and all attorneys are not familiar and skilled to do it.

Yes, it is at least "ok" and may be desirable.

Are you saying that you intend to hire that particular lawyer for the trial-level, Supreme Court divorce case? If yes, then it's quite normal for such a lawyer to only handle trial-level cases & not handle appeals. Some lawyers only handle certain aspects of the case - just as some lawyers do Divorce Law, while others handle Criminal cases. Call a NYC Divorce attorney for more info.