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






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






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






4. 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.






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






6. A judicial philosophy that supports an active role for the judiciary in changing the law.






7. 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.






8. An advance or down payment that is given to engage the services of an attorney.






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






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






11. A provision in a deed that prohibits specified uses of the property.






12. A nonbinding process in which attorneys for both sides present synopses of their cases to a jury - which renders an advisory opinion on the basis of these presentations.






13. An affidavit signed by the client indicating that he or she has read the complaint and that its contents are correct.






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






15. A rule that states that evidence obtained in violation of an individual's constitutional rights cannot be used against that individual in a criminal trial.






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






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






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






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






20. 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.






21. The general jurisdiction trial courts in the federal system.






22. The law itself - such as statutes and court opinions.






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






24. A set of standardized jury instructions.






25. A term used to describe two cases that are almost identical - with similar facts and legal issues.






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






27. Standard used by appellate courts when reviewing a trial court's findings of fact.






28. A canon of construction meaning 'of the same class.:






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






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






31. Something of value exchanged to form the basis of a contract.






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






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






34. 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.






35. The standard of proof used in some civil trials. The evidence presented must be greater than a preponderance of the evidence but less than beyond a reasonable doubt.






36. Questions that suggest the answer.






37. The modern pretrial procedure by which one party gains information from the adverse party.






38. 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.






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






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






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






42. Affiliated with the federal government's Legal Services Corporation - these offices serve those who would otherwise be unable to afford legal assistance.






43. When an appellate court that normally sits in panels sits as a whole.






44. The power of the federal government to prevent the states from passing conflicting laws - and sometimes even to prohibit states from passing any laws on a particular subject.






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






46. 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.






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






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






49. The new legal principle established by a court opinion.






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