The burden is on the appellant to show that there was a legal error, and that the legal error impacted the final judgment.

Different review guidelines apply to different kinds of trial court decisions. These guidelines are called “standards of review.”

The three most common standards of review are: (1) the “abuse of discretion” standard, which applies if you are appealing a decision involving the trial court’s exercise of discretion; (2) the “substantial evidence” standard, which applies when you argue that insufficient evidence supports the trial court’s or jury’s factual findings; and (3) the “de novo” standard, which is reserved for reviewing legal issues, such as the interpretation of a statute or contract.