Free NALA CP® Exam Flashcards

A constitution outranks conflicting statutes; statutes outrank inconsistent regulations; valid higher-court precedent binds lower courts within the same jurisdiction. Always ask both what type of authority it is and which sovereign or court issued it.

Binding authority must be followed by the deciding court. Persuasive authority may influence but does not control. A decision's force depends on court hierarchy, jurisdiction, and whether the issue is governed by federal or state law.

Vertical stare decisis requires lower courts to follow controlling higher courts. Horizontal stare decisis describes a court following its own prior decisions, usually with more flexibility to overrule when justified.

Subject-matter jurisdiction is the court's power over the category of dispute and generally cannot be waived. Personal jurisdiction is power over a party and can be waived if not timely raised.

Federal-question jurisdiction covers claims arising under federal law. Diversity jurisdiction ordinarily requires complete diversity of state citizenship plus an amount in controversy exceeding $75,000, subject to statutory rules.

A valid federal rule may displace state law expressly, by occupying an entire regulatory field, or because compliance with both sovereigns is impossible or state law obstructs federal objectives.

Legal remedies usually award money damages. Equitable remedies order or undo conduct, such as injunction, specific performance, rescission, or reformation, and are commonly used when money is inadequate.

Rulemaking creates generally applicable agency rules; adjudication applies law to particular parties and facts. The Administrative Procedure Act supplies core federal procedures and standards for judicial review.

A complaint needs a short and plain statement of jurisdiction, a plausible claim showing entitlement to relief, and a demand for relief. It need not prove the case, but labels and conclusions alone are insufficient.

Lack of personal jurisdiction, improper venue, insufficient process, and insufficient service are lost if omitted from the first Rule 12 response. Subject-matter jurisdiction is not waived and can be raised later.

Service formally delivers the summons and complaint by an authorized method. A requested waiver avoids formal service costs but does not waive defenses to jurisdiction or venue; it extends the time to answer under the federal rules.

Relevant, nonprivileged discovery must also be proportional to the case, considering importance, amount at stake, access to information, resources, and whether burden or expense outweighs likely benefit.

When litigation is reasonably anticipated, potentially relevant paper and electronically stored information must be preserved. A hold suspends routine destruction and identifies custodians, systems, and data sources requiring protection.

Privilege protects qualifying confidential legal communications between attorney and client. Work product protects materials prepared in anticipation of litigation and may extend to nonlawyers; opinion work product receives especially strong protection.

A mediator facilitates negotiation but ordinarily does not decide the dispute. An arbitrator hears presentations and issues a decision, which may be binding if the governing agreement or rules make it so.

Common law generally governs services and real-property agreements; UCC Article 2 governs sales of goods. For mixed transactions, courts commonly ask which purpose predominates.

An option generally needs consideration to keep an offer open. A merchant's signed written assurance under UCC 2-205 can keep a goods offer irrevocable without consideration for the stated period, capped at three months.

A condition precedent must occur before a performance duty arises. A condition subsequent ends an existing duty when the specified event occurs. The distinction determines who must show the condition and its consequence.

A material breach substantially defeats the bargain and may excuse the other party's remaining performance. A minor breach permits damages but ordinarily does not discharge the other party's duty to perform.

Expectation puts the claimant where performance would have placed them; reliance reimburses loss from depending on the promise; restitution prevents unjust retention of a benefit conferred.

A corporation is created by filing articles of incorporation; an LLC uses articles of organization. Bylaws govern internal corporate procedure, while an operating agreement governs an LLC's internal rights and management.

Shareholders own shares and elect directors; directors set major policy and oversee the corporation; officers manage daily operations under delegated authority. Ownership does not itself authorize day-to-day management.

Courts generally defer to informed, good-faith, disinterested board decisions made with a rational business purpose. The protection weakens when directors have conflicts, act in bad faith, or fail to become adequately informed.

Attachment makes a security interest enforceable against the debtor when value, debtor rights, and an authenticated agreement or permitted possession/control exist. Perfection gives public notice and affects priority against third parties.

Actual authority comes from the principal's communication to the agent. Apparent authority comes from the principal's manifestations to a third party. Ratification accepts an initially unauthorized act with knowledge of material facts.

Criminal liability ordinarily requires a voluntary act or qualifying omission, the required culpable mental state, and concurrence—the mental state must accompany the prohibited conduct.

Reasonable suspicion is the lower, particularized basis that can justify a brief investigative stop. Probable cause is a fair probability standard used for arrests, warrants, and many searches.

Miranda applies to custodial interrogation by law enforcement. Custody is formal arrest or, under the objective totality of the circumstances, restraint comparable to formal arrest. Interrogation includes express questioning and its functional equivalent—conduct police should know is reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response.

In a jury trial, jeopardy attaches when the jury is sworn. In a bench trial, it attaches when the first witness is sworn. Attachment matters when evaluating whether a later prosecution is barred.

Probate assets pass through the decedent's estate under a will or intestacy. Assets with beneficiary designations, survivorship ownership, or properly funded trusts generally transfer outside probate.

The representative must safeguard and inventory estate property, address valid claims and taxes, account accurately, avoid self-dealing, and distribute the remainder according to the will or intestacy law.

A durable power of attorney appoints an agent and can survive the principal's incapacity. A living will states treatment preferences for future healthcare decisions. Authority under a power of attorney ends at death.

Fee simple is potentially indefinite ownership; a life estate lasts for a measuring life and is followed by a remainder or reversion. A leasehold gives possession for a term without transferring the landlord's underlying title.

Joint tenancy includes a right of survivorship, so a deceased joint tenant's share passes to the survivors. Tenancy in common has no survivorship right; each share can pass through the owner's estate.

A deed is the written instrument used to transfer an interest in real property. Title is the legal ownership status or bundle of rights. Delivering a valid deed can transfer title; recording protects against later claimants.

Race protects the first recorder; notice protects a later bona fide purchaser without notice; race-notice requires the later purchaser both to lack notice and to record first. Always identify the jurisdiction's statute.

The plaintiff must establish duty, breach, factual and proximate causation, and legally recognized damages. Failure on any required element defeats an ordinary negligence claim.

Actual cause asks whether the harm would have occurred without the defendant's conduct or uses another applicable causal test. Proximate cause limits liability to harms sufficiently connected and foreseeable.

Negligence per se uses violation of a protective statute; depending on the jurisdiction, it may establish breach, create a rebuttable presumption, or serve only as evidence of breach. Res ipsa permits an inference of negligence from the circumstances of an event.

Negligence turns on unreasonable conduct. Strict liability can impose responsibility without proving lack of care, notably for qualifying abnormally dangerous activities, certain animal harms, and defective products.

Comparative-fault systems reduce recovery according to the plaintiff's share, sometimes barring recovery above a threshold. Traditional contributory negligence can bar recovery entirely for any plaintiff fault, subject to exceptions.

A paralegal may gather facts, research, draft under supervision, and communicate approved information. Independently selecting legal strategy, giving legal advice, setting fees, accepting a client, or representing a client without authority crosses the line.

Confidentiality broadly covers information relating to representation from any source and guides conduct outside court. Privilege is a narrower evidentiary protection for qualifying confidential attorney-client communications made for legal advice.

The new firm should identify matters the paralegal worked on, protect former-client information, and assess imputation and any permitted screening. The paralegal must not reveal confidential details merely to run the check.

Supervising lawyers must make reasonable efforts to ensure nonlawyer conduct is compatible with professional obligations. A lawyer may be responsible for misconduct the lawyer orders, ratifies, or fails to mitigate when able.

Record actual work accurately, use clear task descriptions, and never duplicate, inflate, or disguise clerical time. Lawyers set fees and remain responsible for ensuring paralegal charges are reasonable and properly communicated.

Client or third-party funds must be kept separate from operating money, identified, recorded, and promptly delivered when due. Mixing them with firm funds is commingling; disputed portions remain protected until resolved.

The automatic stay generally begins when the bankruptcy petition is filed and pauses covered collection activity. The discharge injunction arises after discharge and bars collection of discharged debts as personal liabilities.

A secured claim is backed by collateral to the extent of its value. Priority unsecured claims are paid ahead by statute. General unsecured claims lack collateral and priority and share in remaining distributions under the applicable rules.

Chapter 7 generally liquidates nonexempt assets; Chapter 11 reorganizes through a plan and is commonly used by businesses; Chapter 13 lets eligible individuals with regular income repay under a court-supervised plan.