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






2. A person who assists an attorney and - working under the attorney's supervision - does tasks that - absent the paralegal - the attorney would do. A paralegal cannot give advice or appear in court.






3. The party in a lawsuit against whom an appeal has been filed.






4. Body of law that has evolved from judicial decisions in cases that do not involve constitutional - statutory - or administrative regulation interpretation.






5. A court where a permanent record is kept of the testimony - lawyers' remarks - and judges' rulings.






6. 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.






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






8. Land and objects permanently attached to land.






9. 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.






10. Information about what happened procedurally to the litigation after the case cited. Include this information in a citation. There is no entry for the topic Husband and Wife.






11. An assumption that something that is not real is real-for example - saying that a corporation is a person for purposes of its being able to sue and be sued.






12. Money awarded to a plaintiff in cases of intentional torts in order to punish the defendant and serve as a warning to others.






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






14. The law that sets the length of time from when something happens to when a lawsuit must be filed before the right to bring it is lost.






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






16. 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.






17. Violation of a statute as proof of negligence






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






19. The opinion of a jury on a question of fact.






20. A paralegal who works as an independent contractor rather than as an employee of a law firm or corporation.






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






22. 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.






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






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






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






26. Establishes a direct link to the event that must be proven.






27. All property that is not real property.






28. A computerized database that contains the full text of documents - such as court opinions or depositions.






29. A court opinion that establishes new law in an important area.






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






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






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






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






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






35. Rules and regulations created by administrative agencies.






36. The intermediate appellate courts in the federal system.






37. Information that tells the reader the name of the case - where it can be located - the court that decided it - and the year it was decided. The Bluebook gives precise rules as to how case citations are to be written.






38. Fairness; a court's power to do justice. Equity powers allow judges to take action when otherwise the law would limit their decisions to monetary awards. Equity powers include a judge's ability to issue an injunction and to order specific performance






39. Law that regulates how the legal system operates.






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






41. 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.






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






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






44. An online legal database containing court decisions and statutes from the entire country. While its coverage of other legal mateirals is not as extensive as that of Westlaw and Lexis - it is also less expensive.






45. The purpose of the legislature at the time it enacted the statute.






46. A grand jury's written accusation that a given individual has committed a crime.






47. A claim by the defendant against the plaintiff.






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






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






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