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. An approach whereby the courts give a statute a broad interpretation.






2. Law that deals with harm to an individual.






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






4. Not factually true - but accepted by the courts as being legally true.






5. Information about what happened procedurally to the litigation after the case cited. Include this information in a citation.






6. A court's power to hear only specialized cases.






7. A defendant's plea meaning that the defendant neither admits nor denies the charges.






8. A public or private statement that an attorney's conduct violated the code of ethics.






9. A contract that outlines the attorney's duties and the client's obligations regarding payment - on either an hourly or a contingency fee basis - as well as the client's responsibility reagarding costs and expenses.






10. A group of people - usually 23 - whose function is to determine if probable cause exists to believe that a crime has been committed and that the defendant committed it.






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






12. Disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk that harm will result.






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






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






15. Bad intent.






16. 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.






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






18. In a case brief - the general legal principle in existence before the case began.






19. The transfer of a case from one state court to a federal court.






20. In logic - a belief that justifies one in arguing a conclusion.






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






22. A tort committed by one who intends to do the act that creates the harm.






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






24. 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.






25. A claim that based on the law and the facts is sufficient to support a lawsuit. If the plaintiff does not state a valid cause of action in the complaint - the court will dismiss it.






26. A lawsuit brought by a person as a representative for a group of people who have been similarly injured.






27. The person who is being asked questions at a deposition.






28. The power of a court to force a person to appear before it.






29. A professional entity in which the stockholders share in the organization's profits but have their liabilities limited to the amount of their investment.






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






31. A compilation of federal administrative regulations arranged by agency.






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






33. The standard of proof used in criminal trials. The evidence represented must be so conclusive and complete that all reasonable doubts regarding the facts are removed from the jurors' minds.






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






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






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






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






38. Information about what happened procedurally to the cited case before it was heard by the cited court. Do not include this information in a citation.






39. The principle that courts cannot decide abstract issues or render advisory opinions; rather - they are limited to deciding cases that involve litigants who are personally affected by the court's decision.






40. All property that is not real property.






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






42. When a higher court agrees with what lower court has done.






43. The division of governmental power among the legislative - executive - and judicial branches.






44. A situation in which a conflict of interest may arise in the future--for example - representing business partners.






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






46. 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.






47. The questioning of an opposing witness.






48. The heading section of a pleading that contains the names of the parties - the name of the court - the title of the action - the docket or file number - and the name of the pleading.






49. 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.






50. The status of being formally recognized by a nongovernmental organization for having met special criteria - such as fulfilling educational requirements and passing an exam - established by that organization.