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. Law that regulates how the legal system operates.






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






3. In a case brief - facts that deal with what happened to the parties before the litigation began.






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






5. The party in a case who has initiated an appeal.






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






7. 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.






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






9. Ownership by two or more people. Ownership shares do not have to be equal - but each has an undivided interest in the property. When a tenant in common dies - that person's share passes either by will or by intestate statute.






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






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






12. 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.






13. A system of government in which the authority to govern is split between a single - nationwide central government and several regional governments that control specific geographical areas.






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






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






16. Generally someone operating within the law - representing persons before administrtive agencies that permit this practice.






17. Broad questions that put few limits on the freedom of the respondent.






18. Generally accepted legal principles.






19. A verdict ordered by a trial judge if the plaintiff fails to present a prima facie case or if the defendant fails to present a necessary defense.






20. An intentional act that creates a harmful or offensive physical contact.






21. The requirement in a legal malpractice case that the plaintiff-client prove that but for the attorney's negligence - the client would have won.






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






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






24. Private publication of court opinions-for example - the regional reporters - such as N.E.2d - published by West.






25. 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.






26. Representing someone who is in a position adverse to a prior client.






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






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






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






30. The process after arrest that includes taking the defendant's personal information - giving the defendant an opportunity to read and sign a Miranda card - and allowing the defendant the opportunity to use a telephone.






31. A system developed to shield an attorney or a paralegal from a case that otherwise would create a conflict of interest.






32. What the prosecution or plaintiff must be able to prove in order for the case to go to the jury-that is - the elements of the prosecution's case or the plaintiff's cause of action.






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






34. A request that the court find the plaintiff has failed to state a valid claim and dismiss the complaint.






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






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






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






38. 'The thing speaks for itself'; the doctrine that suggest negligence can be presumed if an event happens that would not ordinarily happen unless someone was negligent.






39. Violation of a statute as proof of negligence






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






41. A court's power to hear any type of case arising within its geographical area.






42. A statute establishing and setting out the powers of an administrative agency.






43. Evidence that supports previous testimony but that comes in a different form.






44. Law that creates rights and duties.






45. The power of the federal courts to hear matters of state law if the opposing parties are from different states and the amounts in controversy exceeds $75 -000.00






46. 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.






47. 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.






48. The way in which a question of fact is established. Evidence can consist of witness testimony or documents and exhibits. It is the proof presented at a trial.






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






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