The party to a lawsuit who takes an appeal from a trial court order or judgment. Although the US federal courts of appeals refer to this party as the appellant, state appellate courts sometimes use different names, such as petitioner, to refer to the party who takes an appeal. The appellant typically is responsible for filing the notice of appeal, paying any required appellate filing fees, and arranging for the filing of record materials from the trial court (such as the record on appeal and appendix).