Legal analysis: Whether to hire a lawyer is completely your personal freedom, and you do not need to hire a lawyer for litigation. If you think you can correctly quote the law and explain the facts clearly in court, there is no need to hire a lawyer, otherwise it would be necessary. For example, in criminal cases, there is little hope of changing the sentence on appeal. For example, if you plead guilty and have a good attitude and be available when called, these are discretionary circumstances in sentencing rather than statutory circumstances. Discretionary circumstances are different from statutory circumstances such as surrender and meritorious service. The judge may or may not apply discretionary circumstances in the trial. If the second instance takes the form of a written hearing, that is, to see if there are any errors in the laws and procedures applied in the first instance, there is little hope of winning the appeal. So it doesn’t matter whether you find a lawyer or not. Although it is useful to find a lawyer, the usefulness is not obvious.
Legal basis: Article 169 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China. The people's court of second instance shall form a collegial panel to hear appeal cases. After reviewing the files, investigating, and questioning the parties, if the collegial panel does not present any new facts, evidence, or reasons and deems that a hearing is not necessary, it may not hold a hearing. The people's court of second instance may hear the appeal case in its own court, or in the place where the case occurred or where the original people's court is located.