The appeal process is complicated and difficult to navigate. Call our team of California criminal appeals lawyers for a FREE consultation.An ineffective assistance of counsel claim may result in the court granting a wide range of relief, up to and including reversing a conviction or a sentence. When you make a motion for ineffective assistance of counsel during a trial, the court may allow you to hire a new attorney. You need to tell the court that your public defender has not talked to you and ask the court to relieve the PD's office and appoint other counsel. Have you ever represented yourself in a criminal case before? If so, please give a brief description – in which court, how long ago, and on what charges? You can get a new lawyer to file an appeal on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel. A case in which the Court found that in order to find counsel ineffective, the defendant must show both "deficient performance" and "prejudice. If the California Judicial Council form CR-120 was used, the date of the order or judgment must be filled in.