Definition of "Appellant"

Lisa McKeon real estate agent

Written by

Lisa McKeonelite badge icon

Douglas Elliman

The appellant definition references a concept related to legal proceedings. The appellant is the individual who is dissatisfied with the judgment in a lawsuit and asks for a superior court to review the decision. In order to appeal a court’s decision, the appellant must show that they have sufficient grounds for an appeal. Without sufficient grounds, they can not challenge the court’s judgment.

What does Appellant Mean?

In order to define appellant, we must understand how general legal proceedings go. For example, if John sues Jane and wins, Jane is allowed to file an appeal if she is dissatisfied with the result of the initial suit. In that case, Jane is the appellant and John is the appellee. If Jane wins the appeal, John can appeal as well, and the roles are reversed. In this case, the word appellant can be replaced by petitioner.

The most common situation when an appellant can appeal a lawsuit is if they lost in the trial court and appeal to the supreme court for a reversal or modification of the trial court judgment. The status of the appellant isn’t relevant as either plaintiff or defendant can become appellants. Similarly, it doesn’t matter if the appellant won or lost the case. If they have enough grounds to appeal the court’s decision and ask for a superior court to review the decision, they can.

How can one Become an Appellant?

As stated above, a trial court has to occur where one of the parties is dissatisfied with the result. Either the plaintiff or defendant can have grounds for appeal, even if they win the case. The decision to appeal comes from that dissatisfaction or the belief that the court made a mistake. Whether the appellant lost the case at the lower court level or won and was unhappy with the lower court’s decision, they can appeal to a higher court to review the decision.

Some legitimate legal grounds for an appeal are jurisdiction, jury instructions, evidentiary error.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

An insurance policy that promises to pay all the legal obligations of the insured due to negligence in which damage to the property has been caused. ...

Structure that has the same blue print and design as all the other homes in a given development; the opposite of custom built. ...

The rate at which a market can absorb additional units of supply without causing market saturation and severe price distortions. For example, during a recessionary period, many homeowners ...

Right of a property owner located adjacent to an airfield to use the airspace above a certain distance to fly an airplane. However, the owner may not be allowed to put structures, signs or ...

Individual who will receive an inheritance upon the death of another. The proceeds of an insurance policy may be in a lump sum annuity. Real estate also passes to the beneficiary. ...

An insect, such as a termite, that "eats into" the wood and destroys it. This can cause significant damage to the home. Most states have laws that require termite inspection and ...

Final property appraisal estimate arrived at by applying appropriate appraisal methods. ...

Selling price for a property less assumed mortgages by the buyer. For tax purposes, the computation of the contract price is critical. ...

Codes are all around us, determining the logical flow of various events and processes. In the cycle of actions and consequences, codes are used as guidelines. The most commonly known codes ...

Popular Real Estate Questions