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. When only one court has the power to hear a case.






2. A constitutional protection against being tried twice for the same crime.






3. A group of people - usually 23 - whose function is to determine if probable cause exists to believe that a crime has been committed and that the defendant committed it.






4. The standard of proof most commonly used in civil trials. The evidence presented must prove that it is more likely than not the defendant committed the wrong.






5. The papers that begin a lawsuit-generally - the complaint and the answer.






6. A witness who possesses skill and knowledge beyond that of the average person.






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






8. The delivery of a pleading or other paper in a lawsuit to the opposing party.






9. A defendant's plea meaning that the defendant neither admits nor denies the charges.






10. In a case brief - facts that deal with what happened to the parties before the litigation began.






11. Specific questions that usually demand very short or yes-no answers.






12. A reason for invalidating a statute where a reasonable person could not determine a statute's meaning.






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






14. The rules whereby all members of a law firm are treated as though they had represented the former client.






15. The court's power to review statutes to decide whether they conform to the Constitution.






16. The way in which a question of fact is established. Evidence can consist of witness testimony or documents and exhibits. It is the proof presented at a trial.






17. A witness who has not been shown to have any special expertise.






18. A constitutional protection against being tried twice for the same crime.






19. Liability without a showing of fault.






20. A pamphlet inserted into the back of a book containing information new since the volume was published.






21. The background documents created during the process of a bill becoming a statute. These documents can include alternative versions of the legislation - proceedings of committee hearings and reports - and transcripts of floor debates.






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






23. A computerized database that contains key information about the content of documents - such as medical records.






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






25. A temporary transfer of personal property to someone other than the owner for a specified purpose.






26. The law itself - such as statutes and court opinions.






27. Information that can be presented in a court of law as proof of some fact.






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






29. An opinion that disagrees with the majority's decision and reasoning.






30. Broad questions that put few limits on the freedom of the respondent.






31. A request that the court find the plaintiff has failed to state a valid claim and dismiss the complaint.






32. 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.






33. A transfer of real property rights that occurs after someone other than the owner has had actual - open - adverse - and exclusive use of the property for a statutorily determined number of years.






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






35. The general jurisdiction trial courts in the federal system.






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






37. Someone who has the power to act in the place of another.






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






39. Information about the law - such as that contained in encyclopedias and law review articles.






40. A case listed in Shepard's that cites your case.






41. A term used to describe two cases that are almost identical - with similar facts and legal issues.






42. Being informed of some act done or about to be done.






43. The process of properly identifying and authenticating evidence so that it can be introduced.






44. An online legal database containing court decisions and statutes from the entire country. While its coverage of other legal mateirals is not as extensive as that of Westlaw and Lexis - it is also less expensive.






45. 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.






46. Simultaneously representing adverse clients.






47. The standard of proof used in some civil trials. The evidence presented must be greater than a preponderance of the evidence but less than beyond a reasonable doubt.






48. An affidavit signed by the client indicating that he or she has read the complaint and that its contents are correct.






49. Ownership by two or more people. Ownership shares do not have to be equal - but each has an undivided interest in the property. When a tenant in common dies - that person's share passes either by will or by intestate statute.






50. Located in most codified statutes - this table lists statutes by their popular names along with their citations.