You file a case in trial court . If it ' s a question of federal law , you can file it directly in federal trial court called the District Court . You can also file federally if the parties are diverse that is , they ' re from different states and you meet a certain dollar amount in controversy it was $ 75 , 000 when I was in law school , not sure if they ' ve changed it again . Otherwise you have to file in the state court system of your state . But if can still get to the Supreme Court if there ' s a federal issue involved . The other way cases are initiated that often involve federal questions is if you get arrested and the state initiates a criminal prosecution against you . After trial either in state or federal district court , the losing party cas file an appeal . Most all ? court systems in the U . S . have at least one appeal as of right , which means you are guaranteed an opportunity to make your case to the appellate court . N . B . that if the defendant in a criminal trial is found not guilty , the state cannot appeal . The federal appeals court is called the Circuit Court . There are 13 . States have similar midlevel appeals courts . After you lose at the Circuit Court you can file a writ of certiorari to the US Supreme Court . There ' s no guarantee they will hear your case . They pick cases based on whether they think there ' s a question of law that needs an answer , not in order to do justice in individual cases . If you ' re in state court , the state will have a similar process to get to the state Supreme Court , although there might be more or fewer levels in some states . If you lose in your state Supreme Court , if you think the state system got a rule of federal law wrong , you can file a writ of cert . to the US Supreme Court from there too . But if it ' s a matter of state law like , what exactly counts as that state ' s version of seconddegree murder , or the proper width of sidewalks , or whatever , the US supCt has neither inclination nor authority to consider it . There are some exceptions , but this is the basic way it works .