If the title of an appellate court case appears as Jones v.Smith:
A)Jones is the plaintiff and Smith is the defendant.
B)Smith won the trial court decision.
C)You cannot determine which party is the plaintiff,because when a defendant loses a trial and files an appeal,some courts (but not all)reverse the names of the parties.
D)The trial judge was Jones and the appellate judge is Smith.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In appellate court cases, the order of names can be reversed if the defendant from the trial court is the appellant. Therefore, you cannot determine the original plaintiff or defendant based solely on the appellate case title.

If the Title of an Appellate Court Case Appears as Jones