Final answer:
The claim that about 50% of district court verdicts are appealed to the circuit courts is false. A far smaller percentage of cases make it to the appellate level, as most are concluded in the district courts.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that roughly 50% of district court verdicts end up being appealed to the circuit courts is false. Although there is a pathway for cases to be appealed from district courts to circuit courts, and eventually to the U.S. Supreme Court, the actual proportion of cases appealed is significantly less than 50%.
The vast majority of cases are actually resolved at the district court level, with only a small percentage being advanced further through the appeals process. The intermediate appellate courts, or the U.S. courts of appeals, play a crucial role in reviewing decisions from lower courts but do not handle anywhere near half of their caseloads in appeals.