CLE Entrance Exam flashcards

34 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Preponderance of the evidence

The civil standard of proof requiring the fact finder to conclude that a proposition is more likely true than not, generally described as greater than 50 percent probability.

Stare decisis

The doctrine that courts must follow the published holdings of higher courts in the same jurisdiction and generally adhere to their own prior decisions, promoting consistency and predictability.

Res judicata

The doctrine barring a party from relitigating a claim that was or could have been raised in a prior action finally decided on the merits by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Mens rea

The mental state element of an offense, such as purposeful, knowing, reckless, or negligent conduct, which the prosecution must prove for each element that the statute so requires.

Void versus voidable

A void act has no legal effect from the outset and cannot be ratified, while a voidable act remains effective until a party with the right elects to rescind it.

Subject matter jurisdiction

A court's authority to hear the category of case before it. It cannot be waived or conferred by consent and may be raised at any time by a party or the court.

Complete diversity

The requirement under 28 U.S.C. section 1332 that no plaintiff share state citizenship with any defendant, combined with an amount in controversy exceeding $75,000.

Supplemental jurisdiction

Statutory authority under 28 U.S.C. section 1367 allowing a federal court to hear claims sharing a common nucleus of operative fact with a claim within its original jurisdiction.

Removal deadline

A defendant must file a notice of removal within 30 days of service of the initial pleading, and diversity cases generally may not be removed more than one year after commencement.

Nerve center test

The rule that a corporation's principal place of business for diversity purposes is the location where its officers direct, control, and coordinate the company's activities.

Rule 26(b)(1) proportionality

The federal discovery standard permitting any nonprivileged matter relevant to a claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case, considering importance, cost, and burden.

Rule 56 summary judgment

A motion granted when the pleadings, discovery, and affidavits show no genuine dispute of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

Rule 30(b)(6) deposition

A notice directing an organization to designate one or more witnesses to testify about noticed topics; the designee's testimony binds the organization in later proceedings.

Privilege log

A document identifying withheld or redacted materials, the author and recipients, and the specific privilege asserted, enabling the requesting party to challenge each withholding.

Rule 11 certification

An attorney's signature certifying that a filing is not presented for an improper purpose and has evidentiary or legal support after a reasonable inquiry.

Exclusionary rule

The doctrine suppressing evidence obtained through unconstitutional searches or seizures, subject to exceptions such as inevitable discovery, independent source, and attenuation.

Miranda custody test

Warnings are required when a reasonable person in the suspect's position would not feel free to leave and the suspect is subjected to interrogation by government agents.

Double jeopardy

The Fifth Amendment protection barring a second prosecution after acquittal or conviction for the same offense, though retrial may follow a mistrial for manifest necessity.

Brady material

Exculpatory evidence that is material to guilt or punishment and that the prosecution must disclose to the defense under the Due Process Clause.

Chain of custody

A documented chronological record of who collected, handled, transferred, and stored physical evidence, used to establish that the item is authentic and unaltered.

Model Rule 1.6

The ABA rule prohibiting a lawyer from revealing information relating to a client's representation without informed consent, subject to specified exceptions such as preventing death or serious bodily harm.

Concurrent conflict

A situation where representing one client is directly adverse to another client or creates a significant risk that representation will be materially limited by another interest.

Rule 4.2 no-contact rule

A prohibition on a lawyer communicating about the subject of representation with a person the lawyer knows to be represented by counsel, absent consent of that counsel.

Client trust account

An account, governed by Rule 1.15, holding client or third-party funds separate from the lawyer's own funds, with required records and prompt notification of receipt.

Prospective client duty

Under Rule 1.18, a lawyer who learns information from a person consulting about possible representation may not use or reveal that information, even if no engagement results.

IRAC structure

A legal analysis format presenting the Issue, the applicable Rule, the Application of that rule to the facts, and a Conclusion, commonly used in memoranda and exam answers.

Mandatory versus persuasive authority

Mandatory authority binds a court, such as controlling statutes and higher court decisions in the jurisdiction; persuasive authority, such as other jurisdictions' rulings, may inform but does not bind.

Citator validation

Checking whether a case remains good law by reviewing subsequent history and treatment, such as overruling, questioning, or distinguishing, using Shepard's or KeyCite.

Question presented format

A single-sentence framing of the legal issue, the governing rule, and the key facts, typically placed at the beginning of an objective memorandum.

Litigation hold

A directive suspending routine destruction of potentially relevant records once litigation is reasonably anticipated, to avoid spoliation sanctions.

Rule 37(e) sanctions

Federal rule governing failure to preserve ESI; severe sanctions such as adverse inference require a finding that the party acted with intent to deprive another of the information.

Hash value

A fixed-length digital fingerprint computed from file contents, used to verify integrity and identify duplicates; any alteration to the file produces a different value.

Technology-assisted review

A supervised machine-learning process in which reviewers code seed documents to train a classifier that ranks the remaining population by likely relevance, with documented validation.

FRE 502(d) order

A court order providing that privilege is not waived by inadvertent disclosure of protected material in the litigation, making clawback of produced documents enforceable against nonparties.