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






2. Law that deals with harm to an individual.






3. A method for excusing a prospective juror based on the juror's inability to serve in an unbiased manner.






4. A computer search that identifies every place in which the search term appears in the actual text of the document being searched.






5. The rule requiring that the original document be produced at trial.






6. Evidence that does not add any new information but that confirms facts that already have been established.






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






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






9. The justified use of force to protect oneself or others.






10. The intermediate appellate courts in the federal system.






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






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






13. Used to describe legislation that changes the common law.






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






15. Simultaneously representing adverse clients.






16. Without the need for a warrant - the police may seize objects that are openly visible.






17. All property that is not real property.






18. Specific questions that usually demand very short or yes-no answers.






19. Ownership by two or more persons who have equal rights in the use of the property. When a joint tenant dies - that person's share passes to the other joint tenant(s).






20. When nonlawyers do things that only lawyers are allowed to do. In most states this is a crime.






21. 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.






22. The power of the federal courts to hear matters of federal law.






23. The standard of proof most commonly used in civil trials. The evidence presented must prove that it is more likely than not the defendant committed the wrong.






24. 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.






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






26. Defendant's reply to the complaint. It may contain statements of denial - admission - or lack of knowledge and affirmative defenses.






27. A fee based on how many hours attorneys or paralegals spend on the case. Different hourly rates are often charged for different attorneys and paralegals within the firm - based on their seniority and experience.






28. A defense requiring proof that force or a threat of force was used to cause a person to commit a criminal act.






29. A computerized database that contains key information about the content of documents - such as medical records.






30. 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.






31. A request made to the court.






32. 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.






33. The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.






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






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






36. Attorney compensation as a percentage of the amount recovered rather than a flat amount of money or an hourly fee.






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






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






39. A right to use property owned by another for a limited purpose.






40. The theory holding manufacturers and sellers liable for defective products when the defects make the products unreasonably dangerous.






41. An online legal database containing court decisions and statutes from the entire country - as well as secondary authority; a competitor to Westlaw.






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






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






44. How subsequent cases have affected the case you are Shepardizing. It is sometimes indicated by a one-letter abbreviation before the Shepard's citation.






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






46. Also known as real estate; land and items growing on or permanently attached to that land.






47. A decision is overruled when a court in a later case changes the law that the decision in the earlier case is no longer good law.






48. A set of standardized jury instructions.






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






50. A computer program that allows the user to retrieve web documents that match the key words entered by the searcher.