Appealed Your Case? What Happens When an Appellate Court Remands It

A remand order is when an appellate court sends a legal case back to the lower court for additional proceedings. This could entail reconsidering a legal issue, making additional findings, holding another hearing, or taking other actions ordered by the appellate court.

A remand can leave you in an unusual position: Your appeal is over, but your case may not be. What happens next depends on exactly what the appellate court decided and what its mandate requires.

If you have received a remand order, find an appellate lawyer through Super Lawyers for help understanding what the ruling means for your case.

What Does It Mean When an Appellate Court Remands a Case?

A remand order is the appellate court sending the case back to the lower court for additional proceedings.

A party in a lawsuit files a notice of appeal. That appeal is heard by a higher appellate court. The court of appeals issues its ruling in response. A remand is one possible result, sending the case back to lower courts.

An appellate court typically doesn’t perform a retrial. Instead, it reviews the legal issues presented in the appeal. A remand doesn’t automatically mean the entire case starts over. The appellate court’s ruling determines what happens next. A remand can happen in civil and criminal cases.

What Is an Appellate Court’s Mandate?

After an appeal, you may receive a written decision that explains what the appellate court decided. That appellate opinion is important, but it is not necessarily the document that matters. The mandate formally returns the case to the lower court and gives effect to the appellate court’s judgment and instructions.

The terminology can get confusing, especially when several appellate actions appear together:

• Remand: The case goes back to the lower court for additional action.
• Reverse: The appellate court determines the lower court’s decision was wrong.
• Vacate: The appellate court sets aside the lower court’s judgment or order.
• Overrule: The appellate court rejects a prior precedent as controlling law.
• Dismiss: The appellate court ends the appeal without proceeding.

For example, if the appellate court reversed and remanded for further proceedings, it determined that the lower court got something wrong and sent the case back for additional action. The appellate opinion explains the reasoning behind that decision. The mandate puts the decision into effect and tells the lower court where the case goes from there.

Is Remanding a Case the Same as Overruling the Lower Court?

Remand and reversal are different appellate dispositions. An appellate court can mandate a reversal and remand in the same decision. A reversal means the appellate court has determined that the lower court’s judgment was incorrect. The lower court’s ruling is set aside or annulled.

An appellate court generally overrules a prior judicial precedent when it determines that precedent should no longer control future cases. That is different from deciding that the lower court reached the wrong result in the particular case before the court.

Why Would an Appellate Court Remand a Case?

A remand usually means the appellate court found something that the lower court needs to address before the case can move forward. The problem could involve the law, the facts, procedure, or an issue the higher court did not decide.

Legal Error

An appellate court may find that the lower court used the wrong legal standard, misinterpreted the law, or made a legal error that affected the case. The appellate court will explain the error and send the case back so the lower court can fix it.

Fact-Finding Is Necessary

Appellate courts generally review the record from the lower court. They don’t participate in new fact-finding. If the record does not have enough factual findings to resolve an issue, the appellate court may remand the case so the lower court can gather more evidence to establish the facts.

Procedural Problems

A mistake in how the case was handled can sometimes require a remand. The lower court may need to correct the procedural problem, conduct another hearing, or take another step before the case can be resolved.

Appellate Court Resolved Part of the Case

An appeal may raise several issues. The appellate court doesn’t always address all of them. It may decide some issues and leave the others for the lower court to address on remand.

What Does the Lower Court Have To Do After a Case Is Remanded?

The lower court must follow the appellate court’s mandate and any instructions contained in the appellate decision. It generally cannot disregard the appellate court’s ruling or revisit an issue that the appellate court has already decided, unless the mandate leaves room to address it.

The scope of the remand matters. The appellate court may send the entire case back or return only a particular issue for further proceedings. The trial court’s next steps depend on the instructions it receives. It may need to reconsider a ruling, make additional factual findings, hold a hearing, or take another action required by the appellate court.

What Does a Remand Mean for the Parties?

For the parties, the biggest practical takeaway is that a remand does not necessarily mean the case is over. There may be more hearings, briefing, fact-finding, or other proceedings before the dispute is resolved. In some cases, the lower court may even need to conduct a new trial.

A remand also does not automatically make the appellant the “winner.” The appellate court may have found an error that benefits one party without resolving the underlying dispute in that party’s favor. The lower court could ultimately enter a different judgment, modify an earlier ruling, or reach another decision based on the appellate court’s instructions.

Does a Remanded Case Automatically Go Back To Trial?

No. A remand does not automatically mean the parties will have another trial. The court may need to reconsider an existing ruling, make additional factual findings, hold a hearing, correct a procedural error, or recalculate damages. In some cases, the appellate court may require a new trial on some or all of the issues.

Seek Legal Advice

A remanded case can leave you wondering whether you won, lost, or somehow ended up back where you started. This is where having the right attorney can make a difference. The language in an appellate opinion can have significant consequences for what happens next.

Use the Super Lawyers directory to find an appellate lawyer who can review your case and help you determine your next move.