reversal

A reversal occurs when a higher court decides that the judgment of a lower court was incorrect. The result of a reversal is that the lower court or tribunal is instructed to vacate the original judgment. An appellate court may reverse a judgment in its entirety, or in part, and remand the case for further proceedings. A reversal does not necessarily require a new trial; the appellate court may instead direct the lower court to reconsider a particular issue, enter a different judgment, or take another specified action. A judgment may be reversed in part, with other parts of a decision remaining valid. For example, in NLRB v. Hearst Publications, Inc., 322 U.S. 111 (1944) the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that “newsboys” (newspaper street vendors) were not employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) because the appellate court applied common law master-servant principles when the statutory text and history of the NLRA should have been followed more directly.

[Last reviewed in August of 2026 by the Wex Definitions Team]

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