In civil litigation, most lawsuits are resolved by the voluntary agreement (settlement) of the parties (litigants) before the judge, jury, or arbitrator decides how the case should be resolved. But if a case goes to trial and the judge or jury decides how the case should be resolved, one or more parties to the lawsuit may appeal that decision to a higher court—usually a court of appeals, whether in the state court system or the federal court system.

And one or more of the parties who are dissatisfied with the decision of the court of appeals generally may ask the highest court in the jurisdiction (state court or federal court) to review the decision of the lower court(s). The highest court in the state court system is often called the supreme court—but in some states it has a different name—for example, in New York it is called the New York Court of Appeals. And in the federal court system the highest court is the United States Supreme Court.

There are different standards by which higher courts review the decisions of lower courts, and these are known as standards of review. In many cases appellate courts are required to give deference to the decision made by the jury or the lower court.

These decisions are reviewed for an abuse of discretion, and the higher court will only reverse the lower court’s decision if it determines the lower court abused its discretion. And in some states certain decisions made by the lower court or the jury are reviewed using a substantial evidence standard, and the question for the higher court is whether there is substantial evidence to support the decision of the lower court or the jury.

Finally, some decisions are reviewed without giving deference to the decision made by the jury or the lower court, and this standard of review is called de novo review.

In Pennsylvania, as in other states, civil litigation often concludes with a settlement between the parties before a trial verdict is reached. If a case does go to trial and a decision is rendered by a judge or jury, the losing party has the right to appeal to an intermediate appellate court, which in Pennsylvania is the Superior Court or the Commonwealth Court, depending on the case type. The highest court in Pennsylvania is the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, where parties may seek further review of appellate decisions. The standards of review used by appellate courts in Pennsylvania include 'abuse of discretion' for decisions that require deference to the trial court's judgment, 'substantial evidence' for factual determinations, and 'de novo' for issues of law where the appellate court does not defer to the lower court. The choice of standard depends on the nature of the decision being appealed. The United States Supreme Court is the highest federal court and may review decisions from federal appellate courts or state supreme courts on federal or constitutional issues.