The New York City trial courts contain both civil and criminal courts. Trial courts outside of New York City (in the state of New York) include the district court, city court, county court, and town/village justice court. Trial courts that operate both in and outside of New York City include the Supreme Court, Family Court, Surrogate's Court, and Court of Claims. For a New York State case to make it to the U.S. Supreme Court, the trial would have to begin in state court. The trial judge will listen to the evidence and consider each party's legal arguments before making a decision. If the trial judge rules the case against you, you may choose to appeal. There are three levels of appellate courts in New York. The first and lowest level is the Supreme Court's Appellate Terms which hears appeals of all cases at the trial level. The middle tier are the appellate divisions of the Supreme Court which hear appeals from lower courts such as the Supreme Court, County Court, Family Court, Surrogate's Court, and Court of Claims. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court can also hear questions of both law and fact in civil and criminal matters. (New York Courts, 2016) The highest court, which is also the final resort in the state court system, is the Court of Appeals. The court of appeals hears cases from the state's intermediate appellate court and in some cases from lower courts.