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






2. The general jurisdiction trial courts in the federal system.






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






4. A defense requiring proof that the defendant would not have committed the crime but for police trickery.






5. An attorney's written argument presented to an appeals court - setting forth a statement of the law as it should be applied to the client's facts.






6. When a judge formally recognizes something as being a fact without requiring the attorneys prove it through the introduction of other evidence.






7. A request made to the court.






8. An introductory paragraph listing issues to be discussed in the order they are to be discussed.






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






10. The revocation of an attorney's license.






11. A situation in which a conflict of interest may arise in the future--for example - representing business partners.






12. Liability without a showing of fault.






13. The failure to act reasonably under the circumstances.






14. A professional entity in which the owners share in the organization's profits but are not liable for the malpractice of their partners.






15. 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.






16. The pretrial oral questioning of a witness under oath.






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






18. A question that suggests the answer; generally - leading questions may not be asked during direct examination of a witness.






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






20. Including more than one count in a complaint; the counts do not need to be consistent.






21. Rules and regulations created by administrative agencies.






22. A method for excusing a prospective juror; no reason need be given.






23. Land and objects permanently attached to land.






24. A reason for invalidating a statute where a reasonable person could not determine a statute's meaning.






25. The division of governmental power among the legislative - executive - and judicial branches.






26. A national paralegal association.






27. 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.






28. Either a subcategory of relevancy or simply another word for relevancy - the requirement that the evidence be more probative than prejudicial.






29. 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.






30. In deductive reasoning - the second proposition - which along with the major premise leads to the conclusion; in law - the minor premise consists of the client's facts.






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






32. 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.






33. A set of standardized jury instructions.






34. Summary of one legal point in a court opinion; written by the editors at West.






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






36. An approach whereby the courts give a statute a narrow interpretation.






37. A court's prior permission for the police to search and seize.






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






39. The decision of the court regarding the claims of each side. It may be based on a jury's verdict.






40. Negligence by the plaintiff that contributed to his or her injury. Normally - any finding of contributory negligence acts as a complete bar to a plaintiff's recovery.






41. A public or private statement that an attorney's conduct violated the code of ethics.






42. Powers not stated in the Constitution but that are necessary for Congress to carry out other - expressly granted powers.






43. 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.






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






45. Simultaneously representing adverse clients.






46. 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.






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






48. 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.






49. The authority of a court to hear a case when it is initiated - as opposed to appellate jurisdiction.






50. A court order that a person who is not a party to the litigation appear at a trial or deposition and bring requested documents.