Rule 38 Frivolous Appeal—Damages and Costs

If you file an appeal that the Court decides has no real legal merit, you could end up paying a price for it. The Court can order you to pay money damages to the other side, along with their costs, and those costs could even be doubled.

Before this happens, though, you get a fair chance to defend your appeal. Either the other side has to file a separate motion asking the Court to make this ruling, or the Court itself can raise the issue. Either way, you get notice and a real opportunity to respond and explain why your appeal wasn't frivolous.

This rule exists to stop people from filing appeals that waste everyone's time and money, like appeals with no real legal basis or ones filed just to delay a case. If you're thinking about appealing, it's worth making sure your appeal has solid legal grounds, because filing a weak or pointless one could cost you more than just losing the case.