Appeal
A request to a higher court to review and change a lower court's decision.
An appeal is the process of asking a higher court to look at what happened in a lower court and decide whether the judge made a legal error. In Minnesota, appeals from district court typically go to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and from there to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
An appeal is not a new trial. The appeals court does not hear new witnesses or look at new evidence. Instead, it reviews the written record from the lower court and the legal arguments from both sides to decide whether the law was applied correctly.
Why it matters: You generally have a limited time to file an appeal – often 60 days from the entry of judgment in Minnesota civil cases. Missing the deadline usually means losing your right to appeal.
Example: A judge excludes a key piece of evidence at trial, and you lose the case. You could appeal, arguing that the judge applied the wrong legal standard when excluding the evidence.
After a trial court ruling or judgment you believe was legally wrong