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Free PACE Practice Questions

10 free, exam-style Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam Registered Paralegal (PACE) practice questions with answers and explanations. No signup required. Work through them below, then take the full free PACE practice test to study every exam domain.

Question 1

A paralegal runs a conflict check on a new client matter and discovers that the firm represented the prospective adverse party six years ago in an unrelated trademark registration that has since closed. The supervising attorney was not employed at the firm at that time and is unfamiliar with the prior matter. What should the paralegal do FIRST?

  1. Inform the supervising attorney that no conflict exists because the prior matter was unrelated and is now closed
  2. Compile the prior matter's parties, scope, and substantive subject matter and provide the information to the supervising attorney
  3. Set up an ethical wall between the new matter team and any attorneys who previously worked on the closed matter
  4. Draft a conflict-of-interest waiver for the new client to sign before the matter is opened
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B - Compile the prior matter's parties, scope, and substantive subject matter and provide the information to the supervising attorney

Question 2

During an initial consultation, a prospective client asks the paralegal whether their case has merit and whether they should file suit. The supervising attorney has briefly stepped out of the room to take a call. The client is anxious and has driven two hours for the meeting. The paralegal's BEST response is to:

  1. Provide a preliminary opinion based on the facts gathered so far, noting that the supervising attorney will confirm the analysis upon return
  2. Inform the client that the paralegal is not permitted to give legal advice and that the supervising attorney will address those questions when the attorney returns
  3. Summarize the strengths and weaknesses of similar cases the firm has previously handled to help the client understand likely outcomes
  4. Reschedule the consultation so the supervising attorney can answer all substantive questions in a single session
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B - Inform the client that the paralegal is not permitted to give legal advice and that the supervising attorney will address those questions when the attorney returns

Question 3

On day 28 after service of interrogatories under FRCP 33, a paralegal is finalizing the client's responses. The client has just disclosed a previously-unknown internal email that is responsive to one of the interrogatories and is unfavorable to the client's position. The supervising attorney is in trial and unreachable until the next business day. The response is due tomorrow. The paralegal's BEST course of action is to:

  1. Serve the responses without the email exchange and rely on FRCP 26(e) to supplement once the supervising attorney has reviewed
  2. Serve a response that includes a general objection to the interrogatory as overbroad and burdensome to preserve the issue until the attorney can be consulted
  3. Reach the supervising attorney through the firm's emergency contact protocol, document the disclosure, and prepare a draft response that includes the email so the attorney can review and serve before the deadline
  4. Request a one-day extension by stipulation from opposing counsel without disclosing the underlying reason for the request
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C - Reach the supervising attorney through the firm's emergency contact protocol, document the disclosure, and prepare a draft response that includes the email so the attorney can review and serve before the deadline

Question 4

A paralegal is preparing a friendly witness for a deposition. The witness's prior recorded statement says the meeting in question "happened in late June." The witness now tells the paralegal, "Looking back, I think it was actually in early July - does that matter?" The deposition is in two days. The paralegal's BEST course of action is to:

  1. Advise the witness to testify that the meeting happened in late June, consistent with the prior recorded statement, to avoid impeachment
  2. Advise the witness to testify to whatever the witness now genuinely remembers and to acknowledge any prior inconsistency truthfully if asked
  3. Show the witness the prior recorded statement so the witness can refresh recollection before the deposition
  4. Provide the witness with the case chronology compiled from documents so the witness can align the testimony with the documentary record
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B - Advise the witness to testify to whatever the witness now genuinely remembers and to acknowledge any prior inconsistency truthfully if asked

Question 5

While reviewing documents collected from the client for production, a paralegal finds an email from the client's CFO to the client's outside accountant that copies the client's general counsel. The email discusses tax strategy. The accountant is not retained by counsel; the general counsel was copied for awareness only. Opposing counsel has requested all communications regarding the tax strategy. The paralegal should:

  1. Withhold the email from production and log it on the privilege log under attorney-client privilege
  2. Produce the email because copying counsel on a business communication does not by itself create privilege
  3. Withhold the email and log it under both attorney-client privilege and work-product protection to maximize protection
  4. Flag the email for the supervising attorney's privilege determination, noting that copying counsel on a communication that is primarily for business purposes generally does not create privilege
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D - Flag the email for the supervising attorney's privilege determination, noting that copying counsel on a communication that is primarily for business purposes generally does not create privilege

Question 6

A paralegal is verifying authorities cited in a brief that the supervising attorney has drafted and that is due to be filed tomorrow. A citator shows that the lead case the brief relies on as binding authority has been "distinguished by" a more recent decision from the same circuit. The paralegal should:

  1. Note the citator flag in a cover memo to the attorney and let the attorney decide whether the distinguishing decision needs to be addressed
  2. Read the distinguishing decision in full, summarize how it limits or qualifies the lead case, and bring the analysis to the attorney with sufficient time to revise the brief
  3. Remove the citation from the brief and find a substitute authority before returning the brief to the attorney for review
  4. Cite both the lead case and the distinguishing decision in the brief for completeness and let the court weigh them
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B - Read the distinguishing decision in full, summarize how it limits or qualifies the lead case, and bring the analysis to the attorney with sufficient time to revise the brief

Question 7

A paralegal is drafting correspondence to the opposing party in a contract dispute. Research confirms that the opposing party - a corporation - has retained counsel for the dispute. The opposing party's CEO, however, has personally emailed the paralegal asking for "a quick clarification" of one term in the firm's last settlement letter. The CEO did not copy opposing counsel. The paralegal should:

  1. Reply with a brief clarification limited to the one term the CEO asked about, since the CEO initiated the contact
  2. Forward the CEO's email to opposing counsel and reply to the CEO directly to redirect all future communications through counsel
  3. Reply to the CEO and copy opposing counsel on the response so that all communications occur in the open
  4. Decline to respond to the CEO and forward the email to the supervising attorney without further action
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D - Decline to respond to the CEO and forward the email to the supervising attorney without further action

Question 8

A federal civil complaint was personally served on the client on Friday, October 31, 2025. No waiver of service was used. The paralegal is calendaring deadlines under FRCP 12(a)(1)(A)(i), which requires the defendant to serve an answer within 21 days after being served. Under FRCP 6(a), the answer is due:

  1. Friday, November 21, 2025
  2. Monday, November 24, 2025
  3. Saturday, November 22, 2025
  4. Thursday, November 20, 2025
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A - Friday, November 21, 2025

Question 9

A paralegal is finalizing a motion for summary judgment. The supporting brief cites a case for a proposition that the case actually does not support; the attorney's draft describes the case's holding in a way that overstates it. When the paralegal flags this to the supervising attorney, the attorney says, "Leave it. Opposing counsel won't catch it." The paralegal's BEST course of action is to:

  1. Submit the brief as drafted, since responsibility for the accuracy of legal argument rests with the supervising attorney under the rules of professional conduct
  2. Refuse to participate in any further work for that attorney and file an internal complaint with the firm's managing partner that day
  3. Document the conversation in writing, decline to participate further in finalizing the misstated portion of the brief, and elevate the concern through the firm's established reporting channels
  4. Quietly correct the description of the case before the brief is submitted, without raising the issue again with the attorney
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C - Document the conversation in writing, decline to participate further in finalizing the misstated portion of the brief, and elevate the concern through the firm's established reporting channels

Question 10

A paralegal must serve a subpoena duces tecum on a non-party witness in a federal civil action pending in the Southern District of New York. The witness lives and works in Newark, New Jersey, approximately 12 miles from the SDNY courthouse, and is being subpoenaed both to testify at trial and to produce documents. Under FRCP 45, which command is proper?

  1. The subpoena may command the witness to appear at the SDNY courthouse for trial testimony and to produce the documents at the same location
  2. The subpoena may command trial testimony at SDNY, but the document production must occur within 100 miles of Newark and not at the SDNY courthouse
  3. The subpoena cannot command the witness to appear at trial in SDNY because the witness resides outside the State of New York
  4. The subpoena must be issued by the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey because that is the district where the witness resides
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A - The subpoena may command the witness to appear at the SDNY courthouse for trial testimony and to produce the documents at the same location

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