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






2. A privately published statutory code that includes editorial features - such as summaries of court opinions that have interpreted the statutes.






3. Bad intent.






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






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






6. A fee calculated as a percentage of the settlement or award in the case.






7. The right of the police to detain an individual for a brief period of time and to search the outside of the person's clothing if the police have a reasonable suspicion that the individual has committed or is about to commit crime.






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






9. The judge informs the jurors of the law they need to know to make their decision.






10. 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.






11. An act by a landlord that makes the premises unfit or unsuitable for occupancy.






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






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






14. A trial ended by the judge because of a major problem - such as a prejudicial statement by one of the attorneys.






15. A witness who has not been shown to have any special expertise.






16. Questions that suggest the answer.






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






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






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






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






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






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






23. A claim by the defendant against the plaintiff.






24. Law dealing with ownership.






25. The process of signaling that you are really listening - accomplished by using verbal and nonverbal clues - paraphrasing - and reflecting the client's feelings.






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






27. A decision is affirmed when the litigants appeal the trial court decision and the higher court agrees with what the lower court has done.






28. A person who initiates a lawsuit.






29. A request that the court release the defendant because of the illegality of the incarceration.






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






31. A form in which statutes are published; they are printed individually at the time they are first enacted.






32. In logic - an argument is considered to be valid or sound if the assumption underlying the argument are true.






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






34. An ADR mechanism whereby a neutral third party assists the parties in reaching a mutually agreeable - voluntary compromise.






35. The requirement that relief be sought from an administrative agency before proceeding to court.






36. All property that is not real property.






37. Bad act.






38. A defense requiring proof that the defendant was not mentally responsible.






39. A person who permits or directs another person to act on the principal's behalf.






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






41. 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.






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






43. A reason for invalidating a statute where it covers both protected and criminal activity.






44. 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.






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






46. The court's power to review statutes to decide whether they conform to the Constitution.






47. The power of a court to hear a case.






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






49. The questioning of an opposing witness.






50. A method for measuring the relative negligence of the plaintiff and the defendant - with a commensurate sharing of the compensation for the injuries.