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. An opinion in which a majority of the court joins.






2. A set charge for a specific service - such as drafting a simple will.






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






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






5. The heading section of a pleading that contains the names of the parties - the name of the court - the title of the action - the docket or file number - and the name of the pleading.






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






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






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






9. A contract that outlines the attorney's duties and the client's obligations regarding payment - on either an hourly or a contingency fee basis - as well as the client's responsibility reagarding costs and expenses.






10. Simultaneously representing adverse clients.






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






12. A form of logical reasoning based on a major premise - a minor premise - and a conclusion.






13. 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.






14. Money awarded to a plaintiff in cases of intentional torts in order to punish the defendant and serve as a warning to others.






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






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






17. 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






18. A person who initiates an appeal.






19. A national organization of paralegal programs that promotes high standards for paralegal education.






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






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






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






23. 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.






24. The tenant's right to be free from interference from the landlord with respect to how the property is used.






25. Computer codes that - when clicked on with a mouse - connect the user to other web pages with related information






26. A provision in a deed that prohibits specified uses of the property.






27. 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.






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






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






30. A request that the court order that certain information not be mentioned in the presence of the jury.






31. Someone in court testifying to what someone said out of court for the purpose of establishing the truth of what was said.






32. The process of finding the law.






33. In a case brief - facts that relate to what happened procedurally in the lower courts or administrative agencies before the case reached the court issuing the opinion.






34. A nonbinding process in which attorneys for both sides present synopses of their cases to a jury - which renders an advisory opinion on the basis of these presentations.






35. Summary of one legal point in a court opinion; written by the editors at West.






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






37. A statute that changes the common law.






38. An actual incident or condition; not a legal consequence.






39. Fairness; a court's power to do justice. Equity powers allow judges to take action when otherwise the law would limit their decisions to monetary awards. Equity powers include a judge's ability to issue an injunction and to order specific performance






40. A nonlawyer who provides legal services directly to the public without being under the supervision of an attorney. Absent a statute allowing this activity - it constitutes the unauthorized practice of law.






41. Violation of a statute as proof of negligence






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






43. A fee based on how many hours attorneys or paralegals spend on the case. Different hourly rates are often charged for different attorneys and paralegals within the firm - based on their seniority and experience.






44. 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.






45. All property that is not real property.






46. The final paragraph in a written legal analysis that summarizes the writer's conclusions.






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






48. 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.






49. A method for measuring the relative negligence of the plaintiff and the defendant - with a commensurate sharing of the compensation for the injuries.






50. The authority of a court to hear a case when it is initiated - as opposed to appellate jurisdiction.