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






2. An intentional tort that covers a variety of situations - including disclosure - intrusion - appropriation - and false light.






3. A claim by the defendant against the plaintiff.






4. The failure to act reasonably under the circumstances.






5. 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.






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






7. A form of logical reasoning based on a major premise - a minor premise - and a conclusion.






8. 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.






9. Generally accepted legal principles.






10. Cases that involve similar facts and rules of law.






11. A method adopted by the federal rules in which the plaintiff simply informs the defendant of the claim and the general basis for it.






12. A request that the court prohibit the use of certain evidence at the trial.






13. An authoritative secondary source - written by a group of legal scholars - summarizing the existing common law - as well as suggesting what the law should be.






14. All property that is not real property.






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






16. A person who initiates an appeal.






17. A statute that changes the common law.






18. A right to use property owned by another for a limited purpose.






19. Money or something else of value that is held by the government to ensure the defendant's appearance in court.






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






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






22. When an appellate court overturns or negates the decision of a lower court.






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






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






25. An intentional act that creates a reasonable apprehension of an immediate harmful or offensive physical contact.






26. Being informed of some act done or about to be done.






27. Federal and state rules that regulate how criminal proceedings are conducted.






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






29. 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.






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






31. Simultaneously representing adverse clients.






32. The status of having received a certificate documenting that the person has successfully completed an educational program.






33. The power of the federal government to prevent the states from passing conflicting laws - and sometimes even to prohibit states from passing any laws on a particular subject.






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






35. Affiliated with the federal government's Legal Services Corporation - these offices serve those who would otherwise be unable to afford legal assistance.






36. A pamphlet inserted into the back of a book containing information new since the volume was published.






37. A process whereby the prosecutor and the defendant's attorney agree for the defendant to plead guilty in exchange for the prosecutor's promise to charge him or her with a lesser offense - drop some additional charges - or request a lesser sentence.






38. Ownership by two or more persons who have equal rights in the use of the property. When a joint tenant dies - that person's share passes to the other joint tenant(s).






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






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






41. A suspicion based on specific facts; less than probable cause.






42. Also known as cause in fact - this is measured by the 'but for' standard: But for the defendant's actions - the plaintiff would not have been injured.






43. 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.






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






45. The heading section of a pleading that contains the names of the parties - the name of the court - the title of the action - the docket or file number - and the name of the pleading.






46. An actual incident or condition; not a legal consequence.






47. A statutory citation is a formalized method for referring to a statute's chapter (or title) and section numbers.






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






49. A law enacted by a state legislature or by Congress.






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