The majority of collection cases start out in Small Claims Court, which is a division of District Court. The losing party of your court case has up to 14 days to appeal to file with Circuit Court. When the appeal goes through, the case starts completely over in Circuit Court; the Circuit Court judge is brand new to the case and will not base any of their decision on what occurred in District Court.

In Circuit Court, either side can demand a jury or serve discovery to obtain information from the other side. This is because a jury trial is a constitutional right and cannot be refused to you. But it is difficult to say if filing an appeal would help or hurt your case, as it can go either way. If an appeal is filed it can still be difficult to decide if a jury will help or hurt you obtain the outcome you are looking for.

If you lost your collection case the first time, then filing an appeal is a way to get a second chance at winning. However, if the debt buyer lost the first time, then they also has the right to appeal, meaning that you have to win your case twice.

It’s important for you to remember that you have the right to appeal if you lose your case the first time, but your opponent in court also has the same right. An appeal is basically a “do-over” button for your collection case, if you are willing to pay for it.