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. In a case brief - the court's answer to the issue presented to it; the new legal principle established by a court opinion.






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






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






4. The intermediate appellate courts in the federal system.






5. Not susceptible to a precise definition; a belief based on specific facts that a crime has been or is about to be committed; more than a reasonable suspicion.






6. A court order authorizing a sheriff to take property in order to enforce a judgment.






7. A document that lists statements regarding specific items for the other party to admit or deny.






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






9. A warrant that allows the police to enter without announcing their presence in advance.






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






11. A constitutional fairness requirement that a defendant have at least a certain minimum level of contact with a state before the state courts can have jurisdiction over the defendant.






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






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






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






15. A statement in a judicial opinion not necessary for the decision of the case.






16. Court decisions from an equal or a lower court from the same jurisidiction or from a higher court in a different jurisdiction; also includes secondary authority.






17. When the law is applied to the client's facts and the result is not obvious - an issue is created.






18. A statute that changes the common law.






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






20. A tangible object or a right or ownership interest.






21. A decision is reversed when the litigants appeal the trial court decision and the higher court disagrees with the decision of a lower court.






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






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






24. 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.






25. 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.






26. An actual incident or condition; not a legal consequence.






27. The background documents created during the process of a bill becoming a statute. These documents can include alternative versions of the legislation - proceedings of committee hearings and reports - and transcripts of floor debates.






28. 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.






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






30. An activity that requires professional judgment - or the educational ability to relate law to a specific legal problem.






31. An error made by the trial judge sufficiently serious to warrant reversing the trial court's decision.






32. Law that deals with harm to a person or a person's property.






33. Law that deals with harm to society as a whole.






34. Determined by whether the evidence leads one to logically conclude that an asserted fact is either more or less probable.






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






36. A meeting of the attorneys and the judge prior to the beginning of the trial.






37. Evidence that suggests the defendant's guilt.






38. The ethical rule prohibiting attorneys and paralegals from working for opposing sides in a case.






39. A defense requiring proof that the defendant was forced to take an action to avoid a greater harm.






40. Bad act.






41. Information about the law - such as that contained in encyclopedias and law review articles.






42. A request that the court order a rehearing of a lawsuit because irregularities - such as errors of the court or jury misconduct - make it probable that an impartial trial do not occur.






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






44. A national voluntary organization of lawyers.






45. Rules and regulations created by administrative agencies.






46. The questioning of your own witness.






47. The rule that in order to claim self-defense there must have been no possibility of retreat.






48. Someone in court testifying to what someone said out of court for the purpose of establishing the truth of what was said.






49. A national paralegal association.






50. A form of logical reasoning based on a major premise - a minor premise - and a conclusion.