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 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.






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






3. 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.






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






5. 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.






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






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






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






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






10. 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.






11. A court's power to review statutes to decide if they conform to the federal or a state constitution.






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






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






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






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






16. Evidence that does not add any new information but that confirms facts that already have been established.






17. The opinion of a jury on a question of fact.






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






19. A court order requiring a party to perform a specific act or to cease doing a specific act.






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






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






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






23. A book that contains court opinion headnotes arranged by subject matter.






24. A statement of the court's decision in which the facts are either omitted or given in very general terms so that it will apply to a wider range of cases.






25. Information about what happened procedurally to the litigation after the case cited. Include this information in a citation. There is no entry for the topic Husband and Wife.






26. An agreement supported by consideration.






27. 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.






28. The pleading that begins a lawsuit.






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






30. A question that suggests the answer; generally - leading questions may not be asked during direct examination of a witness.






31. Used to describe legislation that changes the common law.






32. A defense requiring proof that the defendant was forced to take an action to avoid a greater harm.






33. Relates to the ability of a witness to testify; generally - the witness must be capable of being understood by the jury; must understand the duty to tell the truth; and if a lay witness - must give testimony based on personal knowledge.






34. 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.






35. An issue that the court has never faced before.






36. The division of governmental power among the legislative - executive - and judicial branches.






37. A privately published statutory code that includes editorial features - such as summaries of court opinions that have interpreted the statutes.






38. When an appellate court sends a case back to the trial court for a new trial or other action.






39. A decision is affirmed when the litigants appeal the trial court decision and the higher court agrees with what the lower court has done.






40. A defense whereby the defendant offers new evidence to avoid judgment.






41. A business run by two or more persons as co-owners.






42. A national paralegal association.






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






44. Either a subcategory of relevancy or simply another word for relevancy - the requirement that the evidence be more probative than prejudicial.






45. Something of value exchanged to form the basis of a contract.






46. Evidence that suggests the defendant's guilt.






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






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






49. A provision that purports to waive liability.






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