Glossary
Paralegal Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential paralegal terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key paralegal vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in paralegal training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Bates numbering
- Unique sequential numbers stamped on documents for identification.
- Bluebook
- The standard citation guide for legal documents.
- Complaint
- The document that starts a civil lawsuit.
- Conflict check
- Screening to ensure the firm can represent a client without conflicts of interest.
- Deposition
- Sworn out-of-court testimony recorded by a court reporter.
- Discovery
- The pretrial process of exchanging information and evidence.
- Docketing
- Tracking court deadlines and dates.
- E-filing
- Submitting court documents electronically.
- Interrogatories
- Written questions one party must answer under oath.
- Motion
- A request asking the court to make a ruling.
- Pleading
- A formal court document stating a party’s claims or defenses, such as a complaint or answer.
- Privilege
- Legal protection for certain communications, such as attorney-client privilege.
- Statute of limitations
- The deadline to file a lawsuit.
- Subpoena
- An order requiring a person to testify or produce documents.
- Giving legal advice or representation without a law license.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Paralegal practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Paralegal training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.