PP Paralegal study guide
PP Paralegal · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The PP Paralegal credential - sometimes written out as Professional Paralegal - is a certification for working paralegals and legal support staff who want to document breadth across the whole of the paralegal role rather than depth in one specialty. Candidates are typically practicing paralegals, litigation and transactional support staff, and legal assistants preparing to take on more substantive responsibility. The study outline used on this page divides the exam into five areas: ethics and professional responsibility, substantive law, legal research and writing, communication and human relations, and practice management and technology. Each area carries equal weight in that outline, which means a candidate cannot safely carry a weak area with a strong one - ethics and practice-management questions reward preparation just as much as substantive-law questions do. The PP Paralegal study guide has 5 sections and about 1,308 words.
01Ethics and Professional Responsibility
Ethics questions test whether you know the line between paralegal support and the practice of law. Core duties include competence, diligence, communication, confidentiality, avoiding conflicts, candor to tribunals, fairness, and safekeeping client property.
277 words, about 1 min02Substantive Law
Substantive law questions reward element-based thinking. In torts, negligence requires duty, breach, causation (actual and proximate), and damages; intentional torts require intent plus the act; strict liability applies to abnormally dangerous activities and defective products.
250 words, about 1 min03Legal Research and Writing
Legal research starts with classifying authority. Primary authority includes constitutions, statutes, regulations, ordinances, and court decisions; secondary authority includes treatises, law review articles, encyclopedias, and practice guides.
272 words, about 1 min04Communication and Human Relations
Communication questions test client-centered professionalism. Use active listening, open-ended questions, reflective summaries, and plain language.
243 words, about 1 min05Practice Management and Technology
Practice management questions focus on systems that prevent missed deadlines, lost files, and confidentiality breaches. Maintain one authoritative docket and a backup tickler system; calculate deadlines from the applicable rules, not memory, and confirm whether weekends, holidays, mail service, or e-filing change the count.
266 words, about 1 min