Question

You mean when the Ct rules in your favor?

Question
Yes.

Appellate is the appeals court, which I suspect you are not asking about (are you?). What I think you're asking about is the trial court, and I believe you are asking about civil (as opposed to criminal) cases.

I am also going to go under the assumption that you are asking about the plaintiff (the person who is suing) as opposed to the defendant (the person being sued).

The answer is, like in most legal questions, it depends. When a plaintiff wins a civil case, usually some sort of compensation is awarded. This can be in the form of money (it's called damages) or in the form of performance if it is a contract claim. The amount of damages or the nature of the performance is up to the trier of fact, which is the jury. Hence if you sue for a million dollars, it doesn't mean you necessarily get a million dollars, even if you prove your case completely, even if the defendant is a horrible person, even if the defendant actually has a million dollars just lying around. Instead, damages are awarded on the basis of injury or inconvenience or damage sustained by the defendant as a consequence of the defendant's actions. That is, if you and I get into a car accident and I break my leg, and I sue you and win, I can only be paid for the value of my broken leg. What's a broken leg worth? Well, there are medical expenses and time off from work, plus let's say I had children and had to temporarily hire a nanny to help care for them. I might also have a loss of consortium claim for diminished love (yes, really; this is a diminished sex claim) and help to my husband (that is, housework and cooking and running errands). Plus there's what's called psychological trauma and emotional distress. In New York State, in 1990, a standard broken leg, without too many complications, was worth about a $10,000 or so total in damages, which was often diminished by health insurance and other factors. Today, I am not sure of a standard settlement amount but it's a sure bet that the figure has gone up.