Appeal Bond

An appeal bond is frequently required of defendants and occasionally plaintiffs to a civil lawsuit. An "appeal" is a formal request of a superior court (often a court of appeals) that it review the decision of an inferior court such as a general trial court or an administrative agency. Generally the appellant seeks an appeal because he or she perceives that either the law was improperly applied (judicial error) or that an injustice was committed by the lower court. The goal of the appeal is to have the judgment corrected, reversed or remanded to the original court for further adjudication based on the higher court's instructions. Final judgments and orders that are sufficiently final to be entitled to appellate review are in most cases acceptable for this remedy if filed with an appropriate appeal bond. In the federal system there and many state courts an appeal is a two stage process, trial court decisions being moved to an intermediate appellate court then ultimately a Supreme Court. Other special appeal procedures may apply to social security cases and administrative law judge decisions.

On entry of an appealable verdict or order a party may move the court for judicial review by the next higher court. Because the prevailing party may be prejudiced by the stay of enforcement of the original judgment, most codes of civil procedure require the deposit of an appeal bond with the court. This financial assurance mechanism generally guarantees that the appellant will comply with the original judgment if it is ultimately affirmed and pay the appropriate judgment interest, costs of court and attorney's fees of the prevailing party. An appeal bond is a type of surety bond. The surety's obligation is to guarantee that the appellant will comply with the appeal decision.

Appeal bonds can be very large except in those jurisdictions where statutory caps have been established by a state legislature. The code of civil procedure often provides a formula for determining the amount of the appeal bond. For instance, a particular code may obligate the appellant to post an appeal bond equal to 150% of the judgment amount. Fortunately applying for an appeal bond is very simple. A surety company will require a complete appeal bond application, a copy of the pertinent court documents and that the appellant identify his or her legal counsel. These three items are sufficient for a surety company to offer a premium quote (bond cost) and collateral terms if required. See some of the state requirements below:

Underwriting of appeal bonds requires review by a surety specialist with knowledge of this class of obligation. Appeal bond leader SuretyOne.com specializes in judicial bonds. Appeal bond application submissions are reviewed and responded to within one hour of receipt. We are the MOST RESPONSIVE court bond underwriter in the bonding business.

Surety bond application review and quoting are free of charge. There is no obligation to purchase.

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