Supreme Court Appeals

At Laughlin Law, appeals are an important and large part of our practice.  Nicole Laughlin is an experienced brief writer who has briefed and argued many cases to the Supreme Court of South Dakota over the last decade of practice.  The majority of these cases have centered on criminal law issues.  ​

Bringing An Appeal

Bringing an appeal to the South Dakota Supreme Court is a complicated process.  The first step in appealing a case is to determine whether there are any viable issues to bring before the Supreme Court for review.  ​

Filing A SD Supreme Court Appeal

Once your case has concluded, the window for filing an appeal with the South Dakota Supreme Court is very short.  If you are thinking of filing an appeal you must act quickly once the Judgment and Sentence or final order in the case has been filed or you may miss the deadline for filing notice that you are seeking an appeal.  ​

SD Supreme Court Briefs

​A Supreme Court appeal is argued through a brief, which is a written argument that outlines the issues to the court and provides legal research and analysis to support the assertion that there was a problem in the case that needs to be corrected.  There are laws that dictate every aspect of what is required to be in the written brief.  This includes the page length, the format, section headings and even the acceptable fonts to be used in the brief.  Attention to detail is critical in a brief to the Supreme Court of South Dakota. 

Oral ARguments SD Supreme court

​In a small minority of cases the South Dakota Supreme Court grants oral argument in the case.  This means the attorneys and lawyers get to explain and argue the case orally to the justices.  Once all of the information is submitted to the court by both sides the court will take the case under advisement and issue its ruling at a later date.   

Nicole Laughlin argues a case in front of the South Dakota Supreme Court in 2011.