NALA CP® Exam Flashcards

Q: How are these 50 NALA CP flashcards distributed?

They follow the official 100-point Knowledge Exam blueprint. United States Legal System receives 8 cards and Civil Litigation 7 because each 15-point domain converts to 7.5 cards. Criminal Law receives 4 and Estate Planning 3 because each 7-point domain converts to 3.5. The remaining exact conversions are Contracts 5, Corporate/Commercial Law 5, Real Estate and Property 4, Torts 5, Professional and Ethical Responsibility 6, and Debtor/Creditor and Bankruptcy 3. The paired rounding offsets, producing exactly 50 cards.

Q: Why are the Skills Exam points not mixed into the 50-card distribution?

NALA requires two separately passed sections. The Knowledge Exam has its own 100-point domain blueprint, while the Skills Exam is a separate 30-point written assignment. Combining them into a 130-point percentage would imply a composite scoring model NALA does not use. These cards therefore map to the Knowledge blueprint; Skills preparation requires timed writing practice.

Q: What is the current NALA CP exam format?

The Knowledge Exam contains 120 multiple-choice questions in three hours: 100 are scored and 20 are unscored pretest questions. After passing Knowledge, a candidate takes a separate two-hour Skills Exam consisting of a written assignment. Both sections must be passed to earn the CP credential.

Q: What score is required to pass the NALA CP exam?

NALA establishes criterion-referenced cut scores using the Angoff method, but does not provide passing raw cut scores to candidates. Successful completion of each section is reported as Pass. A candidate who does not pass receives a score and domain-level feedback for retesting.

Q: What happens after a failed Knowledge or Skills attempt?

NALA requires a 90-day wait between attempts. Each section allows an initial attempt plus two retakes within its 365-day authorization period. After three unsuccessful Knowledge attempts, the candidate must submit a new application and fee and wait 365 days before testing again. After three unsuccessful Skills attempts, the candidate must submit a new application and restart with the Knowledge Exam.

Q: Do I need employer sponsorship to apply?

No. You apply directly to NALA, but you must document an eligible pathway. NALA accepts qualifying paralegal education, a bachelor's degree plus specified paralegal experience or substantive coursework, or a high-school-equivalent pathway with five years of paralegal experience and recent CLE. Required transcripts or employer attestations depend on the pathway.

Q: Does the NALA CP credential expire?

The credential is valid for five years and must be renewed. During each five-year recertification period, a CP must complete 50 hours of continuing legal education, including five hours of legal ethics, and satisfy NALA's renewal requirements.

Q: What does the two-hour Skills Exam assess?

The 30-point rubric assigns 10 points to Legal Writing—7 for composition and 3 for mechanics—and 20 points to Critical Thinking: 4 for identifying relevant facts, 7 for issue spotting, 7 for analyzing facts and rules, and 2 for drawing conclusions. Flashcards support doctrine recall but do not replace written practice.

Question 1

Hierarchy of legal authority

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 2

Binding authority vs. persuasive authority

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 3

Vertical vs. horizontal stare decisis

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 4

Subject-matter jurisdiction vs. personal jurisdiction

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 5

Federal-question jurisdiction vs. diversity jurisdiction

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 6

Federal preemption

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 7

Legal remedies vs. equitable remedies

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 8

Administrative rulemaking vs. adjudication

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 9

Federal notice pleading under Rule 8

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 10

Waivable Rule 12 defenses

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 11

Service of process vs. waiver of service

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 12

Proportional discovery

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 13

Litigation hold

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 14

Attorney-client privilege vs. work-product protection

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 15

Mediation vs. arbitration

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 16

Common-law contracts vs. UCC Article 2

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 17

Option contract vs. merchant's firm offer

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 18

Condition precedent vs. condition subsequent

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 19

Material breach vs. minor breach

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 20

Expectation, reliance, and restitution interests

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 21

Entity formation documents

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 22

Shareholders, directors, and officers

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 23

Business judgment rule

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 24

Attachment vs. perfection under UCC Article 9

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 25

Actual authority, apparent authority, and ratification

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 26

Actus reus, mens rea, and concurrence

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 27

Reasonable suspicion vs. probable cause

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 28

When Miranda warnings are required

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 29

When jeopardy attaches

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 30

Probate assets vs. nonprobate transfers

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 31

Core duties of a personal representative

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 32

Durable power of attorney vs. living will

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 33

Freehold and leasehold interests

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 34

Joint tenancy vs. tenancy in common

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 35

Deed vs. title

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 36

Race, notice, and race-notice recording statutes

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 37

Four elements of negligence

Accepted Answer

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

Question 38

Actual cause vs. proximate cause

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 39

Negligence per se vs. res ipsa loquitur

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 40

Strict liability vs. negligence

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 41

Comparative fault vs. contributory negligence

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 42

Paralegal tasks that cross into unauthorized practice

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 43

Rule 1.6 confidentiality vs. attorney-client privilege

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 44

Conflict checks when a paralegal changes firms

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 45

Lawyer supervision of nonlawyers under Model Rule 5.3

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 46

Ethical paralegal timekeeping

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 47

Client trust funds and commingling

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 48

Automatic stay vs. discharge injunction

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 49

Secured, priority unsecured, and general unsecured claims

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 50

Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13

Accepted Answer

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.

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