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 national paralegal association.






2. The requirement that relief be sought from an administrative agency before proceeding to court.






3. The requirement in a legal malpractice case that the plaintiff-client prove that but for the attorney's negligence - the client would have won.






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






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






6. 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.






7. An opinion that agrees with the majority's result but disagrees with the reasoning.






8. Evidence that is derived from an illegal search or interrogation is inadmissible.






9. An activity that requires professional judgment - or the educational ability to relate law to a specific legal problem.






10. A token sum awarded when liability has been found but monetary damages cannot be shown.






11. Determined by whether the evidence leads one to logically conclude that an asserted fact is either more or less probable.






12. In logic - an argument is considered to be valid or sound if the assumption underlying the argument are true.






13. Information about what happened procedurally to the litigation after the case cited. Include this information in a citation.






14. A court order authorizing a sheriff to take property in order to enforce a judgment.






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






16. Law that creates rights and duties.






17. An approach whereby the courts give a statute a broad interpretation.






18. Books that contain appellate court decisions. There are both official and unofficial reporters.






19. 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.






20. When a person must be brought into a lawsuit as either a plaintiff or a defendant.






21. Information that tells the reader the name of the case - where it can be located - the court that decided it - and the year it was decided. The Bluebook gives precise rules as to how case citations are to be written.






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






23. A trial conducted without a jury.






24. A canon of construction meaning 'of the same class.:






25. A request that the court prohibit the use of certain evidence at the trial.






26. Court decisions from a higher court in the same jurisdiction.






27. A decision is overruled when a court in a later case changes the law so that its prior decision is no longer good law.






28. Written questions sent by one side to the opposing side - answered under oath.






29. Negligence by the plaintiff that contributed to his or her injury. Normally - any finding of contributory negligence acts as a complete bar to a plaintiff's recovery.






30. Also known as real estate; land and items growing on or permanently attached to that land.






31. 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.






32. Liability without a showing of fault.






33. Body of law that has evolved from judicial decisions in cases that do not involve constitutional - statutory - or administrative regulation interpretation.






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






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






36. The result reached in a particular case.






37. The tort theory that an employer can be sued for the negligent acts of its employees.






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






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






40. Proof that the evidence is what it is said to be.






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






42. The failure of an attorney to act reasonably.






43. An assumption that something that is not real is real-for example - saying that a corporation is a person for purposes of its being able to sue and be sued.






44. When a judge formally recognizes something as being a fact without requiring the attorneys prove it through the introduction of other evidence.






45. Rules and regulations created by administrative agencies.






46. The publication of false statements that harm a person's reputation.






47. A computerized database that contains the full text of documents - such as court opinions or depositions.






48. A defense requiring proof that the defendant was not mentally responsible.






49. The justified use of force to protect oneself or others.






50. A national association of paralegal associations.