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. A court's prior permission for the police to search and seize.






2. A paralegal who works as an independent contractor rather than as an employee of a law firm or corporation.






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






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






5. The status of having received a certificate documenting that the person has successfully completed an educational program.






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






7. The failure to act reasonably under the circumstances.






8. Law that creates rights and duties.






9. A tangible object or a right or ownership interest.






10. Occurs when the police restrain a person's freedom and charge the person with a crime.






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






12. General principles that guide the courts in their interpretation of statutes.






13. 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.






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






15. In a case brief - the general legal principle in existence before the case began.






16. An authoritative secondary source - written by a group of legal scholars - summarizing the existing common law - as well as suggesting what the law should be.






17. Evidence that supports previous testimony but that comes in a different form.






18. Monetary compensation - including compensatory - punitive - and nominal damages.






19. A means of gaining appellate review; in the U.S. Supreme Court the writ is discretionary and will be issued to another court to review a federal question if four of the nine justices vote to hear the case.






20. Law that deals with harm to society as a whole.






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






22. A situation in which a conflict of interest may arise in the future--for example - representing business partners.






23. When an appellate court overturns or negates the decision of a lower court.






24. 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.






25. Consists of records - contracts - leases - wills - and other written instruments.






26. Courts that determine whether lower courts have made errors of law.






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






28. Occurs whenever one person - through force or the threat of force - unlawfully detains another person against his or her will.






29. Violation of a statute as proof of negligence






30. The rule requiring that the original document be produced at trial.






31. In a case brief - the rule of law applied to the case's specific facts.






32. In deductive reasoning - the statement of a broad proposition that forms the starting point; in law - the statement of a legal rule that you can find in a statute or court opinion.






33. A rule of evidence that prevents an attorney or a paralegal from being compelled to testify about confidential client information.






34. The doctrine stating that normally once a court has decided one way on a particular issue - it and other courts in the same jurisdiction will decide the same way on that issue in future cases given similar facts unless they can be convinced of the ne






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






36. The decision of the court regarding the claims of each side. It may be based on a jury's verdict.






37. 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.






38. The application of legal rules to a client's specific factual situation; also known as legal analysis.






39. Any tangible object - like a bloody glove.






40. When the product was not being used for its intended purpose or was being used in a dangerous manner; it is a defense to a products liability claim so long as the misuse was not foreseeable.






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






42. All property that is not real property.






43. A statement of the court's decision that contains many of the case's specific facts - thereby limiting its future applicability to a narrow range of cases.






44. Court decisions from an equal or a lower court from the same jurisidiction or from a higher court in a different jurisdiction; also includes secondary authority.






45. A system of government in which the authority to govern is split between a single - nationwide central government and several regional governments that control specific geographical areas.






46. A compilation of federal administrative regulations arranged by agency.






47. 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.






48. Usually organized as either a partnership or a professional corporation - law clinics provide low-cost legal services on routine matters by stressing low overhead and high volume.






49. An examination of a prospective juror to see if he or she is fit to serve as a juror on a specific case.






50. An act by a landlord that makes the premises unfit or unsuitable for occupancy.