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






2. Techniques for resolving conflicts that are alternatives to full-scale litigation. The two most common are arbitration and mediation.






3. Law that creates rights and duties.






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






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






6. In writing - a technique used to help your reader move from one thought to the next and to see the connections between them.






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






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






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






10. The rule that in order to claim self-defense there must have been no possibility of retreat.






11. Located in most codified statutes - this table lists statutes by their popular names along with their citations.






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






13. Information that can be presented in a court of law as proof of some fact.






14. Evidence that suggests the defendant's innocence.






15. 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.






16. 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.






17. A claim that based on the law and the facts is sufficient to support a lawsuit. If the plaintiff does not state a valid cause of action in the complaint - the court will dismiss it.






18. A national association of paralegal managers.






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






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






21. 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.






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






23. Not factually true - but accepted by the courts as being legally true.






24. In a case brief - the rule of law applied to the case's specific facts.






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






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






27. The process by which individuals or organizations have their names placed on an official list kept by some private organization or governmental agency.






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






29. A term used to describe a case that is similar to another case.






30. When only one court has the power to hear a case.






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






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






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






34. 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.






35. The ethical rule prohibiting attorneys and paralegals from working for opposing sides in a case.






36. Questions relating to what happened: who - what - when - where - and how.






37. Once actual cause is found - as a policy matter - the court must also find that the act and the resulting harm were so foreseeably related as to justify a finding of liability.






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






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






40. The application of legal rules to a client's specific factual situation; also known as legal analysis.






41. Land and objects permanently attached to land.






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






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






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






45. 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.






46. 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.






47. The new legal principle established by a court opinion.






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






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 questioning of an opposing witness.