Test your basic knowledge |

Paralegal 101

Subject : law
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Not factually true - but accepted by the courts as being legally true.






2. A decision is reversed when an appellate court overturns or negates the decision of a lower court.






3. Cases that involve different facts and/or rules of law.






4. The process of signaling that you are really listening - accomplished by using verbal and nonverbal clues - paraphrasing - and reflecting the client's feelings.






5. A court's power to hear only specialized cases.






6. A national voluntary organization of lawyers.






7. Money is awarded to a plaintiff in payment for his or her actual losses.






8. A trial court error that is not sufficient to warrant reversing the decision.






9. The rule that in order to claim self-defense there must have been no possibility of retreat.






10. The reference to a particular page within an opinion.






11. The law that sets the length of time from when something happens to when a lawsuit must be filed before the right to bring it is lost.






12. Bad intent.






13. The pretrial oral questioning of a witness under oath.






14. The chronological publication of statutes at the end of a legislative session.






15. A requirement that a party fulfill his or her contractual obligations.






16. A right to use property owned by another for a limited purpose.






17. Examples of legal writing include case briefs - law office memoranda - and documents filed with the court.






18. An ADR mechanism whereby a neutral third party assists the parties in reaching a mutually agreeable - voluntary compromise.






19. A defense whereby the defendant offers new evidence to avoid judgment.






20. A decision is reversed when the litigants appeal the trial court decision and the higher court disagrees with the decision of a lower court.






21. The power of a court to hear a case.






22. A law enacted by a state legislature or by Congress.






23. The pleading that begins a lawsuit.






24. A method for interpreting statutes in which the ordinary meaning of the statute's language is examined.






25. A warrant that allows the police to enter without announcing their presence in advance.






26. The power of a court to force a person to appear before it.






27. Questions that suggest the answer.






28. When an appellate court sends a case back to the trial court for a new trial or other action.






29. The requirement that defendants be notified of their rights to remain silent and to have an attorney present prior to being questioned by the police.






30. Federal and state rules that govern the admissibility of evidence in court.






31. A method for excusing a prospective juror; no reason need be given.






32. A claim that based on the law and the facts is sufficient to support a lawsuit. If the plaintiff does not state a valid cause of action in the complaint - the court will dismiss it.






33. The status of being formally recognized by a nongovernmental organization for having met special criteria - such as fulfilling educational requirements and passing an exam - established by that organization.






34. In deductive reasoning - the second proposition - which along with the major premise leads to the conclusion; in law - the minor premise consists of the client's facts.






35. The defense's request that the court find the prosecution failed to meet its burden and that it remove the case from the jury by finding the defendant not guilty.






36. Also known as cause in fact - this is measured by the 'but for' standard: But for the defendant's actions - the plaintiff would not have been injured.






37. A suspicion based on specific facts; less than probable cause.






38. A form in which statutes are published; they are printed individually at the time they are first enacted.






39. A defense whereby the defendant offers new evidence to avoid judgment.






40. Part of the Model Penal Code; a test that provides that the defendant is not guilty due to insanity if - at the time of the killing - the defendant lacked either the ability to understand that the act was wrong or the ability to control the behavior.






41. When an appellate court that normally sits in panels sits as a whole.






42. A person appointed by the court to manage the affairs or property of a person who is incompetent due to age or some other reason.






43. A decision is reversed when an appellate court overturns or negates the decision of a lower court.






44. Rules of conduct promulgated and enforced by the government.






45. A court opinion that establishes new law in an important area.






46. A motion brought before the beginning of a trial either to eliminate the necessity for a trial or to limit the information that can be heard at the trial.






47. In a lawsuit the person who is sued; in a criminal case the person who is being charged with a crime.






48. Without the need for a warrant - the police may seize objects that are openly visible.






49. Consists of the description of events that a witness testifies to under oath in a legal proceeding.






50. A defense requiring proof that the defendant would not have committed the crime but for police trickery.