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 test that provides that the defendant is not guity due to insanity if - at the time of the killing the defendant could not control his or her actions.






2. The standard of proof used in some civil trials. The evidence presented must be greater than a preponderance of the evidence but less than beyond a reasonable doubt.






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






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






5. 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.






6. In law - a per curium decision (or opinion) is a ruling issued by an appellate court of multiple judges in which the decision rendered is made by the court (or at least a majoirty of the court) acting collectively and anonymously.






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






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






9. The highest federal appellate court - consisting of nine appointed members.






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






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






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






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






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






15. A professional entity in which the stockholders share in the organization's profits but have their liabilities limited to the amount of their investment.






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






17. Occurs when the police restrain a person's freedom and charge the person with a crime.






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






19. In a case brief - the general legal principle in existence before the case began.






20. The process of legislative enactment of areas of the law previously governed solely by the common law.






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






22. 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.






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






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






25. A compilation of federal or state statutes in which the statutes are organized by subject matter rather than by year of enactment.






26. When a higher court agrees with what lower court has done.






27. Usually organized as either a partnership or a professional corporation - law clinics provide low-cost legal services on routine matters by stressing low overhead and high volume.






28. An ADR mechanism whereby a neutral third party assists the parties in reaching a mutually agreeable - voluntary compromise.






29. A means of gaining appellate review; in the U.S. Supreme Court the writ is discretionary and will be issued to another court to review a federal question if four of the nine justices vote to hear the case.






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






31. A statute that changes the common law.






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






33. Law that deals with harm to society as a whole.






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






35. In deductive reasoning - the statement of a broad proposition that forms the starting point; in law - the statement of a legal rule that you can find in a statute or court opinion.






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






37. The questioning of an opposing witness.






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






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






40. 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.






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






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






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






44. The standard of proof used in criminal trials. The evidence represented must be so conclusive and complete that all reasonable doubts regarding the facts are removed from the jurors' minds.






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






46. A defense requiring proof that force or a threat of force was used to cause a person to commit a criminal act.






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






48. Information about what happened procedurally to the cited case before it was heard by the cited court. Do not include this information in a citation.






49. A body of principles and rules that are either explicitly stated in - or inferred from - the constitutions of the United States and those of the individual states.






50. A computer search that identifies every place in which the search term appears in the actual text of the document being searched.