After a Decision is Issued

After a trial, there are several types of motions that can be filed to address possible trial errors. The most common type of post-trial motion is a Motion for Reconsideration in which you are asking the judge to reconsider his/her ruling and change one specific part of the court order or the court’s overall ruling. Depending on your state’s laws, a Motion for Reconsideration may be an option in the following situations:

• when you believe the judge did not consider or properly examine certain evidence or correctly apply the law; or
• when new evidence is available that you were not able to present before the judge made a decision.

If you are considering also filing an appeal, however, talk to a lawyer about the pros and cons of filing a Motion for Reconsideration first. If the judge rules against you on your motion, s/he may use it as an opportunity to make the ruling harder to appeal by strengthening his/her factual findings or legal analysis against your position. For more information about appeals, see our File an Appeal section.