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 person appointed by the court to manage the affairs or property of a person who is incompetent due to age or some other reason.






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






3. A criminal proceeding at which the court informs the defendant of the charges being brought against him or her and the defendant enters a plea.






4. 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.






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






6. General principles that guide the courts in their interpretation of statutes.






7. A decision is overruled when a court in a later case changes the law that the decision in the earlier case is no longer good law.






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






9. A compilation of federal administrative regulations arranged by agency.






10. 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.






11. Generally accepted legal principles.






12. Disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk that harm will result.






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






14. A judgment that reverses the verdict of the jury when the verdict had no reasonable factual support or was contrary to law.






15. A person who permits or directs another person to act on the principal's behalf.






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






17. The number of hours - or parts of an hour - that can be charged to a specific client.






18. A person who initiates an appeal.






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






20. Law that deals with harm to a person or a person's property.






21. 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.






22. Federal and state rules that govern the admissibility of evidence in court.






23. A statute enacted to correct a defect in prior law or to provide a remedy where none existed.






24. The power of government to take private property for public purposes.






25. A special type of joint tenancy applicable only to married couples.






26. The pleading that begins a lawsuit.






27. Part of the Model Penal Code; a test that provides that the defendant is not guilty due to insanity if - at the time of the killing - the defendant lacked either the ability to understand that the act was wrong or the ability to control the behavior.






28. Someone who has the power to act in the place of another.






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






30. Standard used by appellate courts when reviewing a trial court's findings of fact.






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






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






33. Occurs whenever one person - through force or the threat of force - unlawfully detains another person against his or her will.






34. Written questions sent by one side to the opposing side - answered under oath.






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






36. Money is awarded to a plaintiff in payment for his or her actual losses.






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






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






39. Negligence by the plaintiff that contributed to his or her injury. Normally - it is a complete bar to the plaintiff's recovery.






40. An online legal databease containing court decisions and statutes from the entire country - as well as secondary authority; a competitor to Lexis.






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






42. An affidavit signed by the client indicating that he or she has read the complaint and that its contents are correct.






43. 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.






44. Law that creates rights and duties.






45. The status of being formally recognized by a nongovernmental organization for having met special criteria - such as fulfilling educational requirements and passing an exam - established by that organization.






46. 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.






47. 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.






48. The theory holding manufacturers and sellers liable for defective products when the defects make the products unreasonably dangerous.






49. A constitutional fairness requirement that a defendant have at least a certain minimum level of contact with a state before the state courts can have jurisdiction over the defendant.






50. The background documents created during the process of a bill becoming a statute. These documents can include alternative versions of the legislation - proceedings of committee hearings and reports - and transcripts of floor debates.