Tribunal win or not?

[snowblizzard]

This might be a silly question really. We often get announcements here that someone has 'won' at tribunal which is great. However I assume can still be appealed before they can be considered a 'win'?
I have just 'won' a claim for several acts of discrimination by a school but am wary of announcing it as a 'win' yet as I understand there can be an appeal within a certain timescale.
Am I right to be cautious or not? Do many Sendist decisions get appealed?

Yes, you are right to be cautious.

After my "win", I immediately announced my "win" to MNSN and my FB friends (so, I suppose, logically, the entire world!!!). However, I was careful not say too much on my "winning" post.

My solicitor knew I was posting on Mumsnet (because I told her) and cautioned me not to go public with any further details until the appeal deadline was over. She told me not to go to the media, or complain to anyone and to do nothing to trigger the LA deciding to appeal on trumped-up grounds. So after her advice, I sat on my hands and didn't post/say a further thing anywhere on MN or anywhere else until the deadline passed.

The minute the deadline passed, I complained to all and sundry with the result of the LGO now officially investigating the unlawful behaviour of my LA during my DC's assessment.

So yes, I suppose I could have been identified via MNSN (and still can be) and I did take a risk. But I was so overjoyed that my son finally had a future, that I couldn't resist it.

I have the impression that there are more appeals now just because it's easier to appeal to the Upper Tribunal than it was before, when people had to take the case to the High Court and risked having to pay the other side's costs if they lost. The rule for costs is the same in the UT as in the first tier, i.e it's very rare to be ordered to pay the other side's costs. Also a certain firm acting for LAs seems to appeal almost automatically. The saving grace is that people have to get permission to appeal so it isn't necessarily that easy.

Yes, some LA's appeal automatically simply to send a message to parents in their LA that it is a bigger mountain to climb than simply a tribunal. It appears however that the firm notorious for doing this is increasingly being refused, though I don't suppose they mind as their tactics are about intimidation, not about reasonableness.

I suspect their tactics are also about making more money by putting in appeals. We can only hope that LAs will realise it eventually.