Legal Terms Quiz

Definition	Term
The initiator of the lawsuit
The person against whom a lawsuit is filed
The up front payment a client gives a lawyer to accept a case
A civil wrong that result in an injury to a person or property
A written statement made under oath
Exemption from a legal duty, penalty or prosecution
Legal proceedings to review the decision of a lower court
A method of alternative dispute resolution in which a neutral third party helps resolve a dispute
A person authorized to witness the signing of documents
The money a defendant pays to gain release before trial
Gives one party the right to go onto another party's property
A crime in which a person knowingly makes a false statement while under oath in court
Serious crime punishable by incarceration for a year or more.
Crime that is punishable by less than one year in jail
A claim against someone's property
A process to help those who cannot pay their debts
When a borrower cannot repay a loan and the lender seeks to sell the property
The practical authority or reach of a legal body
Improper or negligent behavior by a professional, such as a doctor or a lawyer
Previously decided case that establishes a principle in further cases
The publication of a statement that injures a person's reputation
An official order authorizing a specific act, such as an arrest or the search of someone's home

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Legal Terms Quiz

by Matt

Created Mar 11, 2009 in Miscellaneous
Featured Mar 11, 2009
Game Plays 61,676

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	DirtyKash:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:09 GMT	3 points
	Affidavit is misspelled.

	Jesse:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:11 GMT	11 points
	i knew my obsession with "Law and Order" and "Court TV" would pay off someday!!

	ChanandlerBong:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:12 GMT	17 points
	Can we have Lionel Hutz as a bonus answer?

	mosfunky:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:13 GMT	12 points
	can method of alternative dispute resolution also be 'arbitration'?

	RaiderNation:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:18 GMT	5 points
	Looks like "DirtyKash" beat me to the punch. But never-the-less, the answer to the fifth (5th) definition is spelled incorrectly. Also, 'Affirmation' would be another acceptable answer for that one. And to answer the question posed by "John", yes, arbitration is certainly a form of ADR.

	CarpeDiem:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:18 GMT	7 points
	Totally fun and a great game concept! :-)

	oldmanscene24:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:19 GMT	3 points
	24/25 - tort got me

	pete:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:23 GMT	6 points
	For number 5, declaration might also be accepted. It's not witnessed by a notary but has the same legal effect as affidavits in federal courts, at least. An affirmation is really just an oath for those who don't want a God-related oath, but it's probably acceptable too. Agree with arbitration for mediation. Gives one party the right to go on anothers - could be a lot of things. License, equitable servitude, etc.

	Booger:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:23 GMT	6 points
	Some corrections/alternate answers needed here: Affidavit is spelled wrong. Appeals do not relate only to requests to overturn prior judgments. Moreover, there are mechanisms to request the overturn of a prior judgment that are not appeals. I'd change the definition to something like: "Legal proceedings to review the decision of a lower court". A claim against property can be an in rem action. Arbitration is also a form of alternate dispute resolution.

	Tim_Allen:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:24 GMT	8 points
	I usually don't nitpick quizzes, but it is possible to be sentenced to longer than a year in jail for a misdemeanor.

Nuclear_Knuckles:

Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:39 GMT

12 points

The wording of the clue: "a neutral third party helps resolve a dispute." It's my understanding an arbitrator doesn't help resolve a dispute; he decides it, period. Perhaps the terms are used more interchangeably than I realize, or perhaps it's semantics? But I don't think an arbitration is quite the same thing as mediation.

	willowwillow:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:47 GMT	10 points
	Would be interesting to see some of the latin phrases used in British law included too.

	Lucy:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:50 GMT	7 points
	This was a good one. Very original and interesting! I only got 11, but I think I found it a bit harder with them being American terms. I must have picked it all up from TV. Would be cool to have a medical one - see what I've learnt from ER and Scrubs!!

	eln77:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:52 GMT	2 points
	Nuclear Knuckles, i thought there was binding arbitration and non-binding arbitration. In binding arbitration, the decision of the arbiter is...binding. In a non-binding arbitration, it isn't.

	pete:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:56 GMT	2 points
	nuclear knuckles - you are right on the difference between mediation and arbitration. willow - there was an quiz a while back that has some legal latin phrases along with non-legal latin. you could do a pretty involved latin legal terms quiz.

	Uhlan:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 19:57 GMT	3 points
	Which are only American terms? I've never heard of some of them but then I'm not a lawyer or a fan of courtroom drama.

	Nuclear_Knuckles:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 20:13 GMT	2 points
	Eln, then is there a substantive difference between non-binding arbitration and mediation?

	Hejman:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 20:19 GMT	4 points
	Non-binding arbitration and mediation have some differences but are both applicable under the wording of the clue. Bond should also be an answer for money paid to secure release. The dividing line between felonies and misdemeanors varies by state. It happens to be one year in many (like Ohio, where I am) but I don't think that's true everywhere. There are close to a dozen answers that I can think of for the right to go on another person's property- lease, right of way, warrant, privilege, waiver, etc. To get the answer provided the clue should probably say something about utility services, where that term used in the accepted answer is often used. Great quiz though- greatly enjoyed it!

	Hejman:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 20:21 GMT	1 point
	And actually, giving it another few seconds of thought, the dividing line in Ohio between felonies and misdemeanors is actually six months, not one year.

	davidr:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 20:35 GMT	2 points
	@Ben: #13, #14 and #17 aren't used in English law. I don't think #9 and #11 are, either.

	deej:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 20:39 GMT	-3 points
	might want to accept "precedence" for precedent

	deej:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 20:40 GMT	1 point
	PS: would foreign people please stop bitching about the America-centric nature of these quizzes? Feel free to register Eurosporcle.co.uk if you think you can do better. Jeez! Enough!!!!

	davidr:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 20:40 GMT	4 points
	I'm wondering if "The publication of a statement that injures a person's reputation" is inaccurate. Under English law, defamation is the spreading of untrue statements that damage a person's reputation. So, for example, the statement `John Doe eats live puppies for breakfast' would not be defamatory if it were true, regardless of how damaging it was to Mr Doe's reputation. There's also the distinction between libel, which is published or broadcast defamation, and slander, which is communicated privately. Does American law distinguish between slander and libel and does it require a defamatory statement to be untrue?

	davidr:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 20:43 GMT	8 points
	@DEEJ: Um. Nobody bitched about the quiz being America-centric. Willow said it would be interesting to add some British terms; Ben asked which of these terms are used only in the US. Neither appears to even be a complaint, let alone "bitching".

	aprilvirgo:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 20:54 GMT	1 point
	Arbitration (at least in Washington State) is essentially a hearing (not in court) with an attorney/neutral party acting as a judge. They hear both sides and make a decision. Whether that decision is binding or not depends on the type of arbitration decided upon before hand. In mediation the mediator is trying to help the parties come to their own decision, not make one for them. Mediations are never binding and the negotiations cannot be brought up in court. As far as the question goes, though, I think the definition was vague enough to be either one. I got all but "easement" and I'm kicking myself because I should have known. :)

	adal:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 20:56 GMT	11 points
	@davidr: I am not sure, but I think libel and slander are the two types of defamation, libel being written, slander being oral.

	willoh76:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 20:57 GMT	8 points
	Fun! Though I don't know really think "Gives one party the right to go onto another party's property" is a very good definition of "easement." I can give someone permission to come onto my property without creating an easement. I think something like "gives one party an interest in another party's property for a specific use" would be more specific and accurate.

	adal:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 21:00 GMT	4 points
	And now that I think about, you're right. It's only defamation if it's untrue.

	JPO:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 21:15 GMT	2 points
	American law does make the distinction between slander and libel, one being oral and the other written as stated above. But for the tort itself "defamation" it need only be "published" i.e. on paper or broadcast. So a statement can either be slanderous or libelous, but either way its (assuming all elements are met) defamation when untrue. Someone, a torts or conlaw professor, I forget, used to tell us that originally (could it have been at English law? I'm unsure) it was only true statements that were punishable for defamation, since when its true it tends to do more damage.

	Booger:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 21:25 GMT	4 points
	@davidr: Actually, #13 (felony) and #14 (misdemeanor) were originally both English common law terms. In fact, misdemeanor is used in this English common law sense in the US Constitution (as in "high crimes and misdemeanors"). #9 (lien) also comes from English law. # 9 (notary) is a term that also dates back to British usage.

	davidr:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 21:37 GMT	2 points
	@Booger: They may well be from British legal usage but the terms `felony' and `misdemeanor' are not used in English law any more. The two levels of offence in English law are `civil' and `criminal' but that's more a distinction in type of offence rather than severity, as such. Essentially, civil offences relate to contract law, while criminal offences are your rapes, murders, thefts and assaults. I think I'm correct in saying that you can't be sent to prison for a civil offence but I wouldn't swear to that. Criminal offences of a lesser degree (such as shoplifting) which are punishable by (as I recall) at most 18 months in jail, are tried in a lower court; more serious or complicated offenses are tried in a higher court. I don't think notaries exist in English law any more but I could be wrong on that one.

	beatrix kiddo:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 21:43 GMT	4 points
	english, american ... i don't really care - i only got 7. i may not know the us judicial system, but the amount of american police/courtroom dramas that i've watched in my life should have stood me in better stead. have i really wasted my life watching all those eps of perry mason.

	davidr:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 21:44 GMT	1 point
	@JPO: It may originally have been the case in English law that a true statement could be defamatory but it certainly isn't now. By the way, does writing a defamatory statement in a private letter constitute libel in the US? I'm pretty sure it would be only slander in England and I think (but am not certain) that, if the recipient subsequently published the letter, they would be committing libel, while the writer would still be only slandering, assuming he meant the letter to stay private.

	Learned_Hand:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 21:57 GMT	3 points
	For #6, shouldn't privilege be acceptable also?

	Statto2:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 21:58 GMT	2 points
	There is such a profession as Notary in the UK. My understanding of UK defamation law is that the burden of proof lies with the "defamer". e.g. If I saw John Doe/Fred Bloggs/AN Other snorting cocaine & wrote about it & he sued I would have to prove to the court that it was true as there were no other witnesses & he's denying it.

	Joe_Ball:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 22:04 GMT	4 points
	@davidr: In the UK, we still do have notaries - I know certainly things like getting death certificates copied is called having them 'notarised'. Also, a true statement (I'm fairly sure) can be defamatory if it was illegal for you to reveal the relevant information. For instance, if a doctor tells the press one of his patients is an adulterer, that's defamation. If his patient is a murderer, that's not, because there's a public interest. Confidentiality is tricky. P.S. What about writs, subpoenas, injunctions?

	Nezu_Chiza:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 22:15 GMT	1 point
	Bah, 18 right. Missed Tort, Easement, Affidavit, and Immunity. Fun quiz though!

	jzev:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 22:17 GMT	3 points
	What's it called when a defendant, let's say a famous football player, kills some people but gets away with it?

	Krazy Moody:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 22:30 GMT	5 points
	you can't handle the truth!

	Tired of Davidr:	Mar 11th, 2009 at 22:35 GMT	0 points
	Learned Hand's nickname ftw :-)