The court you initially file your case in may render a decision that you believe should be heard by a higher authority--that's where the appeal process starts. You can appeal your decision in the State or Federal Appellate Courts, depending where you initially filed. The court that is being appealed from is the "lower court". To appeal a case there must be some error in law or fact by the lower court or the judge abused his/her discretion. The appeal process involves a complete review of all papers filed in the lower court and its decision as well as research of laws and cases. A brief is then drafted to present your arguments with supporting laws and cases to persuade the Appellate Court to reverse, remand back to the lower court or maybe comment in some way upon the lower court's decision which would be favorable to you. Read sample appellate briefs and see all of the forms required for filng an appeal. In the appellate court, you would be known as the Appellant and your opposition is the Appellee. The Appellee files a Brief responding to yours and then you may file a Reply Brief. Next oral argument is heard before a panel of Appellate Judges and they render a decision based upon the briefs and argument. There are numerous Appellate Courts and they each have their own set of rules regarding presentation of briefs, right down to the color of the cover page and what the index should contain.