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Three:Trial level (primarily US District Courts)Appellate level (US Court of Appeals Circuit Courts)Supreme Court (US Supreme Court)
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Trial level, Appellate level, Supreme Court.
In the U.S. legal system, the Supreme Court is the highest and most superior level of court. It has the ultimate authority to interpret the Constitution and federal law, and its decisions set binding precedents for all lower courts. Below the Supreme Court are the Circuit Courts of Appeals and the District Courts, with the Circuit Courts serving as appellate courts for the District Courts.
Supreme Court (Highest Judicial Authority) High Court (Second) District Courts (Third) Subordinate Courts (Others)
The circuit level courts. E.g., "The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals"
At a local level, there are local trial courts, the only courts that don't act as appellate courts. Above the local trial courts are intermediate appellate courts, above which is the State Supreme Court. At a federal level, there are circuit and district courts, with the Federal Supreme Court at the top.
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In the US federal court system, you may be referring to the US Court of Appeals Circuit Courts, which are sometimes called intermediate appellate courts because they are between the US District Court (trial court) and the Supreme Court of the United States (final appellate court).
The lowest general level in the Federal System is the Federal District Court, which sits in a defined federal district. An example would be the "Federal district Court for the Western District of Oklahoma" This district court answers to the Circuit Court ( e.g. 10th Circuit etc.) and then to the US Supreme Court by Certiori
The Supreme Court is the most powerful federal court. The Courts of Appeal are the most powerful courts most litigants will ever reach (the Supreme Court only hears a tiny number of cases a year). The District Courts are the trial level courts.
District - Appelate - Supreme