how appellate courts work
appellate courts review the decisions of lower courts to determine if the court applied the law correctly they exist as part of the judicial system to provide those who have judgments made against them an opportunity to have their case reviewed a publicly traded company with an unfavorable judgment against it will likely experience a drop in share price but an appeal could overturn this previous ruling if an appeal is successful the stock price usually jumps unsuccessful appeals may further be appealed to the supreme court courts at the appellate level review the findings and evidence from the lower court and determine if there is sufficient evidence to support the determination made by the lower court in addition the appellate court will determine if the trial or lower court correctly applied the law the highest form of an appellate court in the u s is the u s supreme court which hears only appeals of major importance and consequence appellate courts vs supreme courtssupreme courts typically have more authority and breadth than appellate courts the u s supreme court is the highest legal authority there is in america and many states have their own supreme courts or court of last resort supreme courts review decisions made by appeals courts overall there are 13 appellate courts on the federal level 12 district appellate courts and an appeals court for the federal circuit many states have intermediate appellate courts which serve as appeals courts meant to cut down on the workload for the state supreme court forty one of the 50 states have at least one intermediate appellate court example of an appellate court rulingshares of ride sharing companies uber technologies inc and lyft inc rose in the summer of 2020 after an appellate court granted a delay in the implementation of a new california law that requires many so called gig workers including drivers for ride share companies to be reclassified as employees 1in this instance the appellate court decided that a previous ruling from a lower california court affirming the constitutionality or legality of the state employment law would be put on hold until it could evaluate the appeal and rule on its merits not long after investor hopes that uber and lyft could potentially get away with offering drivers no access to benefit plans or workers compensation coverage were dashed in october of 2020 the california first district court of appeals ruled that the law was in fact legal and enforceable meaning uber and lyft must treat their california drivers as employees rather than independent contractors and provide them with the benefits and wages they are entitled to under state labor law 2in february of 2021 the u s supreme court refused to hear uber and lyft s appeal affirming the lower court s decision 3 the u k supreme court has also done the same 