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






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






3. A separable part of a statute that must be satisfied for the statute to apply.






4. A request made to the court.






5. A professional entity in which the owners share in the organization's profits but are not liable for the malpractice of their partners.






6. 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.






7. A document that lists statements regarding specific items for the other party to admit or deny.






8. A court order that ends a lawsuit; the suit cannot be refiled by the same parties.






9. 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.






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






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






12. 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.






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






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






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






16. The power of the federal courts to hear matters of federal law.






17. 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.






18. A meeting of the attorneys and the judge prior to the beginning of the trial.






19. A bank account used to hold money belonging to the client or to a third party.






20. 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.






21. How subsequent cases have affected the case you are Shepardizing. It is sometimes indicated by a one-letter abbreviation before the Shepard's citation.






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






23. A summary of one legal point in a court opinion; written by the editors at West.






24. In a case brief - the court's answer to the issue presented to it; the new legal principle established by a court opinion.






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






26. A request that the court grant judgment in favor of the moving party because there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. It is similar to a 12(b)(6) motion except that the court a






27. An attorney's written argument presented to an appeals court - setting forth a statement of the law as it should be applied to the client's facts.






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






29. The new legal principle established by a court opinion.






30. The party in a lawsuit against whom an appeal has been filed.






31. Liability without a showing of fault.






32. A request that the court release the defendant because of the illegality of the incarceration.






33. The failure of an attorney to act reasonably.






34. The process after arrest that includes taking the defendant's personal information - giving the defendant an opportunity to read and sign a Miranda card - and allowing the defendant the opportunity to use a telephone.






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






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






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






38. 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.






39. 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.






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






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






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






43. The process of finding the law.






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






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






46. 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.






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






48. Representing someone who is in a position adverse to a prior client.






49. Indirect evidence - used to prove facts by implication.






50. A judgment entered against a party who fails to complete a required step - such as answering the complaint.