An appeal is a request to a higher court to review a lower court decision for errors which are significant enough to change the outcome of the case.

No, an appeal is not a new hearing. It is a review process to correct mistakes

The most common reasons are the court applied the law incorrectly, the court misunderstood an important fact, the trial was conducted in a way that it prevented you from properly presenting your case, or the court abused its discretion in deciding something

New evidence is not allowed. The Appellate Court will review exactly the same material the trial court reviewed. An appeal must show the trial court made an error with that material.

To file an appeal, you prepare and serve a notice of appeal. Attached to the notice of appeal is the judgment or order being appealed, the decision, if any, and the referee's report, if any. The informational statement must also be attached. This informational statement replaces the old RADI form and pre-argument statement. A fee of $65 is required for filing if the case originated in Supreme Court. There is no charge for cases from Family Court. The appeal is filed in the court where the trial

Taking the appeal simply means filing the appeal

There is a strict time frame to take an appeal. It is 30 days after being served with a notice of entry of the judgment or order. This deadline cannot be extended except under very limited circumstances such as death of the attorney.

Perfecting the appeal means completing the appeal and filing the brief, record and transcripts in the Appellate Division

Under the new joint rules, there is a six month deadline to perfect appeals.

Additional time can be requested and is usually granted. A letter request or a stipulation is allowed for the first two times. After that a motion is needed.