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






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






3. Intangible assets - such as trade secrets - copyrights - patents - and trade or service marks.






4. A grand jury's written accusation that a given individual has committed a crime.






5. A verdict ordered by a trial judge if the plaintiff fails to present a prima facie case or if the defendant fails to present a necessary defense.






6. A computer program that allows the user to retrieve web documents that match the key words entered by the searcher.






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






8. The standard of proof most commonly used in civil trials. The evidence presented must prove that it is more likely than not the defendant committed the wrong.






9. The process of organizing statutes by subject matter.






10. The principle that courts cannot decide abstract issues or render advisory opinions; rather - they are limited to deciding cases that involve litigants who are personally affected by the court's decision.






11. A summary of a court opinion that appears at the beginning of the case.






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






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






14. A person who assists an attorney and - working under the attorney's supervision - does tasks that - absent the paralegal - the attorney would do. A paralegal cannot give advice or appear in court.






15. A requirement that a party fulfill his or her contractual obligations.






16. An online legal database containing court decisions and statutes from the entire country - as well as secondary authority; a competitor to Westlaw.






17. A trial conducted without a jury.






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






19. A national association of paralegal managers.






20. A person who initiates a lawsuit.






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






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






23. 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.






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






25. A national association of paralegal associations.






26. 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.






27. 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.






28. When the law is applied to the client's facts and the result is not obvious - an issue is created.






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






30. 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.






31. When more than one court has jurisdiction to hear a case.






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






33. Evidence that suggests the defendant's innocence.






34. 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.






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






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






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






38. Generally - an emergency situation that allows a search to proceed without a warrant.






39. A case listed in Shepard's that cites your case.






40. Information about the law - such as that contained in encyclopedias and law review articles.






41. A national voluntary organization of lawyers.






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






43. The law itself - such as statutes and court opinions.






44. 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.






45. A determination that an attorney may not practice law for a set period of time.






46. A calendering system that records key dates and important deadlines.






47. The party in a case against whom an appeal has been filed.






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






49. A claim by one defendant against another defendant or by one plaintiff against another plaintiff.






50. A person who initiates an appeal.