Paralegal Exam #1 with Complete Solutions

Continuing legal education (CLE) - ANSWER-Training in the law (usually short term) that a person receives after completing his or her formal legal training. Traditional paralegal - ANSWER-A paralegal who is an employee of an attorney Independent contractor - ANSWER-One who operates his or her own business and contracts to do work for others who do not control many of the administrative details of how the work is performed. Transactional paralegal - ANSWER-One who provides paralegal services for an attorney who represents clients in transactions such as entering contracts, incorporating a business, closing a real estate sale, or planning an estate. Independent paralegal - ANSWER-An independent contractor (1) who sells his or her paralegal services to, and works under the supervision of, one or more attorneys; or (2) who sells his or her paralegal services directly to the public without attorney supervision. Unauthorized practice of law (UPL) - ANSWER-Conduct by a person who does not have a license to practice law or other special authorization needed for that conduct. Substantive legal work - ANSWER-Nonclerical tasks that require legal experience or training; tasks that justify an award of paralegal fees. Contingent fee - ANSWER-A fee that is paid only if the case is successfully resolved by litigation or settlement. (The fee is also referred to as a contingency.) Paralegal fee - ANSWER-A fee that an attorney can collect for the nonclerical work of his or her paralegal on a client case. Overhead - ANSWER-The operating expenses of a business (e.g., office rent, furniture, insurance, and clerical staff) for which customers or clients are not charged a separate fee. American rule - ANSWER-The winning party cannot recover attorney fees from the losing party unless (1) a statute authorizes such payment, (2) a contract between the parties provides such payment, or (3) the court finds that the losing party acted in bad faith in the litigation. English rule - ANSWER-The losing side in litigation must pay the winner's attorney fees. Fee shifting - ANSWER-The process of forcing one party to pay another's attorney fees and costs in litigation. Statutory fee case - ANSWER-A case applying a special statute that gives a judge authority to order the losing party to pay the winning party's attorney and paralegal fees. Lodestar - ANSWER-A method of calculating an award of attorney fees authorized by statute. The number of reasonable hours spent on the case is multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate. Law clerk - ANSWER-An attorney's employee who is in law school studying to become an attorney or who has graduated from law school and is waiting to pass the bar examination. Contemporaneous record - ANSWER-Records prepared on events as the events are occurring or shortly thereafter. Leveraging - ANSWER-Making profit from the income-generating work of others. Billable hours quota - ANSWER-A minimum number of hours expected from a timekeeper on client matters that can be charged to clients per week, month, year, or other time period. Rule of three - ANSWER-A general guideline used by some law firms to identify budget expectations from hiring paralegals: gross revenue generated through paralegal billing should equal three times a paralegal's salary. Realization rate - ANSWER-The hourly rate that a law office actually collects from the billable hours submitted by an attorney or paralegal. Private law firm - ANSWER-A law firm that generates its income from the fees of individual clients. Boutique law firm - ANSWER-A firm that specializes in one area of the law. General counsel - ANSWER-The chief attorney in a corporate law department. Also called corporate counsel. Civil service - ANSWER-Nonmilitary government employment, often obtained through merit and competitive exams. Jurisdiction - ANSWER-The geographic area over which a particular court system or other government unit has authority. Paralegal specialist - ANSWER-The major civil service job classification for paralegals who work for the federal government and for some state governments.