The United States Courts of Appeals (or circuit courts) are the mid-level appellate courts of the United States federal court system. The thirteen United States Courts of Appeals stand between the United States District Courts (or other comparable federal courts, such as the Court of International Trade) and the United States Supreme Court. A court of appeals decides appeals from the district courts within its federal judicial circuit, and in some instances from other designated federal courts and administrative agencies.

In a court of appeals, an appeal is almost always heard by a "panel" of three of the court's judges, although there are instances where all of the judges will participate in an en banc hearing. As a rule, there is no right to appeal a decision of the federal circuit court to the Supreme Court of the United States, but a party may apply to that court to review a ruling of the circuit court -- that is called petitioning for a writ of certiorari -- and if the Supreme Court agrees, then the matter is treated like an appeal to the Supreme Court from the circuit court.

All court decisions are republished on AEGIS with permission of VersusLaw, Inc.