Glossary
Trial court
The court where a case starts. Trial courts hear evidence, listen to witnesses, and decide both questions of fact and questions of law. Almost every case begins in a trial court.
Trial courts are sometimes called "courts of first instance" or "courts of original jurisdiction." Whatever the local name, they're the courts where the action happens: the witnesses testify, the exhibits get introduced, the jury (if any) sits, and the judge issues the original judgment.
In federal court, the trial court is the district court. In state systems, the name varies wildly: Superior Court (California), Circuit Court (Illinois, Tennessee, others), District Court (Texas), Supreme Court (New York, confusingly).
If you don't like the result of a trial court ruling, you don't get to re-try the case. You can appeal: but the appellate court only reviews legal errors in what already happened.