Explanation:
Appeal:
An appeal is the process of making a formal request to a higher (appellate) court to reverse a lower court’s decision after the lower court has made a final judgment or ruling. Often, the losing party files an appeal with the higher court; this begins the appellate review process. An appellate court reviews the facts as presented in the trial, and no other evidence is considered in making an appellate decision. The main purpose of an appeal is to review the legal decisions made at the trial court level.
Appellant:
An appellant is the party to a lawsuit who is seeking an appeal from a lower court decision. The appellant is typically the party who lost at the trial court level. The appellant must file a notice of appeal and offer a legal brief to the appellate court, putting forth its legal arguments and its legal basis for the appeal.
Appellee:
An appellee is the party who wins the judgment at the trial court level. The appellee must respond to the appellant’s legal arguments by filing a legal brief and appear in court, if necessary, to argue to the appellate court why the lower court decision should not be disturbed.
Harmless error:
Harmless error is an error allegedly made by a lower court judge that an appellate court finds insufficient to alter or amend the lower court’s decision. The error is deemed “harmless” because reconsideration of the alleged error would have no bearing on the outcome of the lower court’s decision. An example of a harmless error would be a technical error made by the lower court that, under the applicable law, was improperly decided; yet, the remaining evidence substantially supports the original judgment.
Injunction:
An injunction is an order issued by the court which orders a party to do something or prohibits the party from doing something. An injunction may be proper when a party may be harmed by another party’s threatened actions.
Interlocutory appeal:
An interlocutory appeal is a type of appeal that seeks the review of a temporary order (such as an injunction) that is related to a pending lawsuit. An interlocutory appeal is filed and heard while the underlying action is still proceeding at the trial court level.
Mandamus:
A mandamus action is an order issued by a court that orders a governmental body or public agency to perform an act required by law. Often, a mandamus action is sought when a governmental body or public agency fails or refuses to act under an applicable law.
Writ of certiorari:
A writ of certiorari is a type of judicial order from an upper level court to a lower court (for example, the U.S. Supreme Court to a U.S. Court of Appeal) to send the court record and related documents of a particular case to the higher court for its review. A writ of certiorari is typically associated with the review of lower court decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court or state supreme courts. The appealing party must file a writ of certiorari (also sometimes referred to in short hand as “cert”) to the higher court, which may agree to review the lower court's decision ("granting certiorari") or may refuse to review the lower court's decision ("denying certiorari").
