Possible outcomes:

Court rules in favor of one side.

Court rules against the other.

Losing parties may appeal their case to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. This court takes all appeals.

Parties filed an average of 2,984 civil and criminal cases each year in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals from 2011 – 2015.

Possible outcomes:

Appeals Court overturns district court’s ruling.

Appeals Court upholds district court’s ruling.

Losing parties may choose to petition for rehearing by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals if they determine the panel of judges interpreted the facts of their case wrong or interpreted the law wrong.

Petition for rehearing en banc: rehearing before all appeals judges.

Panel rehearing: rehearing before only the three judges that issued the opinion.

Possible outcomes:

Court rehears case (rare).

Court denies petition for rehearing.

Losing parties may also appeal their case to the Supreme Court of the United States (with or without first filing a petition for rehearing at the Circuit level.) The Supreme Court typically hears only 1 percent of 8,000 appeals submitted anually.