Primary silo I · Direct review
Federal Criminal Appeals
Direct appellate review begins with the judgment, the record, preserved objections, and the legal standard the court of appeals must apply.
The appeal lives in the record.
01
Proceedings
Direct Federal Criminal Appeals
Review of appealable federal judgments, rulings, convictions, and sentences.
Federal Conviction Appeals
Challenges to trial error, constitutional error, and the legal sufficiency of a conviction.
Appeal After Guilty Plea
Review of preserved claims, plea validity, sentencing issues, and waiver scope.
Appeal After Trial
Record-based review of trial rulings, objections, instructions, and constitutional claims.
02
Errors in the record
Evidentiary Errors
Admission or exclusion of evidence and the effect on substantial rights.
Constitutional Errors
Claims arising under constitutional protections in federal proceedings.
Jury Instruction Errors
Challenges to instructions, omitted elements, and objection preservation.
Prosecutorial Misconduct
Review of improper argument, disclosure failures, and prejudicial conduct.
Suppression Issues
Appellate review of search, seizure, statement, and suppression rulings.
03
Sentencing review
Federal Sentencing Appeals
Challenges to guideline calculations and the procedural or substantive reasonableness of sentence.
Sentencing Guideline Errors
Review of offense levels, enhancements, criminal history, and guideline interpretation.
Procedural Sentencing Errors
Failure to calculate, explain, consider, or resolve sentencing issues correctly.
Substantive Reasonableness
Review of whether a sentence is unreasonably severe under the governing standard.
04
Threshold doctrines
Appeal Waivers
Scope, enforceability, exceptions, and claims outside a plea agreement waiver.
Preservation of Error
How objections and record development determine the standard of review.
Harmless Error
Whether an identified error affected the judgment or substantial rights.
Plain Error
Review of unpreserved errors under the demanding four-part framework.
Confidential case review
A federal appeal begins with a disciplined review of the record.
Early review can clarify the deadline, procedural posture, available record, and potential path forward. Call 888-690-4516 or submit a confidential request online.