PARALEGAL 101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SURE
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✔✔Statute of limitations - ✔✔The law that sets the length of time from when something
happens to when a lawsuit must be filed before the rigtht to bring it is lost.
✔✔Jurisdiction - ✔✔The power of a court to hear a case.
✔✔Trial courts - ✔✔Courts that determine the facts and apply the law to the facts.
✔✔Original jurisdiction - ✔✔The authority of a court to hear a case when it is initiated,
as opposed to appellate jurisdiction.
✔✔Questions of fact - ✔✔Questions relating to what happened: who, what, when,
where, and how.
✔✔Questions of law - ✔✔Questions relating to the interpretation or application of the
law.
✔✔Bench trial - ✔✔A trial conducted without a jury.
✔✔Entrapment - ✔✔A defense requiring proof that the defendant would not have
committed the crime but for police trickery.
✔✔Appellate courts - ✔✔Courts that determine whether lower courts have made errors
of law.
✔✔Appellate or petitioner - ✔✔The party in a case who has initiated an appeal.
✔✔Appellee or respondent - ✔✔The party in a case against whom an appeal has been
filed.
, ✔✔Harmless error - ✔✔A trial court error that is not sufficient to warrant reversing the
decision.
✔✔Reverse - ✔✔A decision is reversed when an appellate court overturns or negates
the decision of a lower court.
✔✔Remand - ✔✔When an appellate court sends a case back to the trial court for a new
trial or other action.
✔✔Majority opinion - ✔✔An opinion in which a majority of the court joins.
✔✔Concurring opinion - ✔✔An opinion that agrees with the majority's result but
disagrees with its reasoning.
✔✔Dissenting opinion - ✔✔An opinion that disagrees with the majority's decision and its
reasoning.
✔✔U.S. Supreme Court - ✔✔The highest federal appellate court, consisting of nine
appointed members.
✔✔U.S. Court of Appeals - ✔✔The intermediate appellate courts in the federal system.
✔✔U.S. district courts - ✔✔The general jurisdiction trial courts in the federal system.
✔✔General jurisdiction - ✔✔A court's power to hear any type of case arising within its
geographical area.
✔✔Limited jurisdiction - ✔✔A court's power to hear only specialized cases.
✔✔Subpoena - ✔✔A court order requiring a person to appear to testify at a trial or
deposition.
✔✔En banc - ✔✔When an appellate court that normally sits in panels sits as a whole.
✔✔Writ of certiorari - ✔✔A means of gaining appellate review; in the U.S. Supreme
Court the writ is discretionary and will be issued to another court to review a federal
question if four of the nine justices vote to hear the case.
✔✔Court of record - ✔✔A court where a permanent record is kept of the testimony,
lawyers' remarks, and judges' rulings.
✔✔Exclusive jurisdiction - ✔✔When only one court has the power to hear a case.
A+
✔✔Statute of limitations - ✔✔The law that sets the length of time from when something
happens to when a lawsuit must be filed before the rigtht to bring it is lost.
✔✔Jurisdiction - ✔✔The power of a court to hear a case.
✔✔Trial courts - ✔✔Courts that determine the facts and apply the law to the facts.
✔✔Original jurisdiction - ✔✔The authority of a court to hear a case when it is initiated,
as opposed to appellate jurisdiction.
✔✔Questions of fact - ✔✔Questions relating to what happened: who, what, when,
where, and how.
✔✔Questions of law - ✔✔Questions relating to the interpretation or application of the
law.
✔✔Bench trial - ✔✔A trial conducted without a jury.
✔✔Entrapment - ✔✔A defense requiring proof that the defendant would not have
committed the crime but for police trickery.
✔✔Appellate courts - ✔✔Courts that determine whether lower courts have made errors
of law.
✔✔Appellate or petitioner - ✔✔The party in a case who has initiated an appeal.
✔✔Appellee or respondent - ✔✔The party in a case against whom an appeal has been
filed.
, ✔✔Harmless error - ✔✔A trial court error that is not sufficient to warrant reversing the
decision.
✔✔Reverse - ✔✔A decision is reversed when an appellate court overturns or negates
the decision of a lower court.
✔✔Remand - ✔✔When an appellate court sends a case back to the trial court for a new
trial or other action.
✔✔Majority opinion - ✔✔An opinion in which a majority of the court joins.
✔✔Concurring opinion - ✔✔An opinion that agrees with the majority's result but
disagrees with its reasoning.
✔✔Dissenting opinion - ✔✔An opinion that disagrees with the majority's decision and its
reasoning.
✔✔U.S. Supreme Court - ✔✔The highest federal appellate court, consisting of nine
appointed members.
✔✔U.S. Court of Appeals - ✔✔The intermediate appellate courts in the federal system.
✔✔U.S. district courts - ✔✔The general jurisdiction trial courts in the federal system.
✔✔General jurisdiction - ✔✔A court's power to hear any type of case arising within its
geographical area.
✔✔Limited jurisdiction - ✔✔A court's power to hear only specialized cases.
✔✔Subpoena - ✔✔A court order requiring a person to appear to testify at a trial or
deposition.
✔✔En banc - ✔✔When an appellate court that normally sits in panels sits as a whole.
✔✔Writ of certiorari - ✔✔A means of gaining appellate review; in the U.S. Supreme
Court the writ is discretionary and will be issued to another court to review a federal
question if four of the nine justices vote to hear the case.
✔✔Court of record - ✔✔A court where a permanent record is kept of the testimony,
lawyers' remarks, and judges' rulings.
✔✔Exclusive jurisdiction - ✔✔When only one court has the power to hear a case.
