These law trivia questions come in five rounds: legal words and Latin, how courts work, landmark cases and trials, law in history, and robes, quills and customs. It is a quiz of definitions and dated history, not legal advice.
Read the full guide
Five rounds for a law class or a bar social
Legal words and Latin asks what habeas corpus, voir dire and mortgage mean. Courts and how they work follows the Supreme Court from six justices in New York to nine. Landmark cases and trials runs from Socrates to the flag cases. Law in history covers Ur-Nammu, the Twelve Tables and trial by combat. Robes, quills and customs explains the white quills and the judicial handshake.
Quiz a table or yourself
Tap a choice to check it; the reason and the page it was read on appear with the answer. Scored round asks 20 before it marks any. Team scores go on paper.
Tips
Most definitions in the first round are the federal courts' own, from their Glossary of Legal Terms.
Questions and answers
What are some easy law trivia questions?
What does habeas corpus mean? How many people sit on a federal criminal trial jury? What does the court cry Oyez mean? The answers are you have the body, twelve and hear ye.
Why are there nine Supreme Court justices?
The Court's own history page says the number changed six times before settling at nine in 1869. The first Court, in 1790, had six: a Chief Justice and five Associate Justices.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is a quiz of the federal courts' own definitions and of dated history, not advice on any case. This site is not affiliated with any court or bar association. For a legal question, ask a lawyer.
How were the answers checked?
Each was read on October 2, 2026 on the page linked under it: the federal courts' glossary and the Supreme Court's own pages for 39 questions, Wikipedia for the rest. No living judge or lawyer is an answer, and no case after 1999 is asked.
A court sits en banc. What does the French phrase mean?Answer: On the bench: the whole court takes part. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
A judge looks at a document in camera. What does the Latin phrase mean?Answer: In chambers. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
A jury is sequestered. What has happened to it?Answer: It has been kept apart from outside influences. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
A subpoena duces tecum commands a witness to appear and do what else?Answer: Produce documents. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
Amicus curiae is Latin for what?Answer: Friend of the court. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
By which plainer name is a plea of nolo contendere also known?Answer: No contest. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
Habeas corpus is Latin. What does it mean?Answer: You have the body. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
In forma pauperis is Latin for what?Answer: In the manner of a pauper. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
Mens rea is Law Latin for what?Answer: Guilty mind. Source: Wikipedia: Mens rea
People who appear pro se in court are doing what?Answer: Presenting their own cases without lawyers. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
Per curiam is Latin for what?Answer: For the court. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
Prima facie is a Latin expression meaning what?Answer: At first sight. Source: Wikipedia: Prima facie
Quorum is a Latin word. What does it mean?Answer: Of whom. Source: Wikipedia: Quorum
Stare decisis, the principle behind precedent, means what?Answer: To stand by things decided. Source: Wikipedia: Precedent
Verdict comes from the Latin veredictum. What does it literally mean?Answer: To say the truth. Source: Wikipedia: Verdict
Voir dire, the questioning of people called for jury service, is a French phrase meaning what?Answer: To speak the truth. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
What is a bench trial?Answer: A trial by a judge without a jury. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
What is an affidavit?Answer: A written or printed statement made under oath. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
What is hearsay?Answer: A statement by a witness who heard about the event second-hand. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
When a court acts sua sponte, how does it act?Answer: Of its own will. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
The word certiorari comes from the opening of old Latin writs. What did the words mean?Answer: We wish to be made more certain. Source: Wikipedia: Certiorari
The word mortgage comes from a Law French term meaning what?Answer: Death pledge. Source: Wikipedia: Mortgage
The word subpoena comes from a Latin phrase meaning what?Answer: Under penalty. Source: Wikipedia: Subpoena
Courts and how they work 20
A Supreme Court practice lets a small number of the nine justices agree to hear a case. How many does it take?Answer: Four. Source: Wikipedia: Rule of four
According to the federal courts' glossary, where did the common law begin?Answer: In England. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
Chief Justice John Jay resigned from the Court in 1795 to become what?Answer: Governor of New York. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court as an Institution
The first bill introduced in the United States Senate became which law?Answer: The Judiciary Act of 1789. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court as an Institution
How many members did the first Supreme Court have?Answer: Six. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court as an Institution
How many people sit on a federal criminal trial jury?Answer: 12. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
In a criminal case, who has the burden of proving the defendant's guilt?Answer: The government. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
In the federal courts, a grand jury is a body of how many citizens?Answer: 16 to 23. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
In which city did the Supreme Court of the United States first assemble, on February 1, 1790?Answer: New York City. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court as an Institution
In which year did the number of justices settle at nine?Answer: 1869. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court as an Institution
In which year was the Supreme Court Building completed?Answer: 1935. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Supreme Court Building
John Marshall of Virginia, appointed by President John Adams, was which Chief Justice in order?Answer: The fourth. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court as an Institution
To protect the independence of judges, the Constitution says that what may not be cut while they are in office?Answer: Their salaries. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court as an Institution
What did the first justices call the duty of traveling the country to hold court?Answer: Riding circuit. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court as an Institution
What happens at an arraignment?Answer: The defendant is told of the charges and asked to plead. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
Where does the Chief Justice sit on the Bench?Answer: In the center chair. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court and Its Traditions
Which body issues an indictment?Answer: A grand jury. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
Which officer has been called the "tenth justice"?Answer: The Solicitor General of the United States. Source: Wikipedia: Solicitor General of the United States
Which president appointed the six original justices?Answer: George Washington. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court as an Institution
Who makes the word-for-word record of what is said in court?Answer: The court reporter. Source: United States Courts: Glossary of Legal Terms
Landmark cases and trials 20
The case Donoghue v Stevenson is known by the name of which creature, said to have been in a bottle of ginger beer?Answer: A snail. Source: Wikipedia: Donoghue v Stevenson
The case McCulloch v. Maryland arose when Maryland taxed which institution?Answer: The Second Bank of the United States. Source: Wikipedia: McCulloch v. Maryland
Clarence Gideon appealed to the Supreme Court from his prison cell. With what did he write?Answer: A pencil, on prison stationery. Source: Wikipedia: Gideon v. Wainwright
Gibbons v. Ogden, decided in 1824, was about the power to regulate what?Answer: Interstate commerce. Source: Wikipedia: Gibbons v. Ogden
In 1819 the Supreme Court upheld the original charter of which college?Answer: Dartmouth. Source: Wikipedia: Dartmouth College v. Woodward
In re Gault held that the Due Process Clause protects which defendants as well as adults?Answer: Juveniles. Source: Wikipedia: In re Gault
In Texas v. Johnson (1989), the Court held that which act is protected speech?Answer: Burning the flag of the United States. Source: Wikipedia: Texas v. Johnson
In Tinker v. Des Moines, what had the students worn to school?Answer: Black armbands. Source: Wikipedia: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
In United States v. Nixon (1974), the Court ordered the president to hand over what?Answer: Tape recordings. Source: Wikipedia: United States v. Nixon
In West Virginia v. Barnette (1943), the Supreme Court held that public school students could not be forced to do what?Answer: Salute the flag. Source: Wikipedia: West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette
Mapp v. Ohio is the case in which the Supreme Court ruled on which rule of evidence?Answer: The exclusionary rule. Source: Wikipedia: Mapp v. Ohio
The most quoted line of the Schenck opinion says free speech would not protect a man who falsely shouts what in a theater?Answer: Fire. Source: Wikipedia: Schenck v. United States
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan set which test for a public official who sues for defamation?Answer: Actual malice. Source: Wikipedia: New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
New York Times Co. v. United States (1971) is often called by the name of which papers?Answer: The Pentagon Papers. Source: Wikipedia: New York Times Co. v. United States
The philosopher Socrates was tried in 399 BC on two charges against which city?Answer: Athens. Source: Wikipedia: Trial of Socrates
Somerset v Stewart, an English judgment of 1772, is also known by the name of which judge?Answer: Mansfield. Source: Wikipedia: Somerset v Stewart
Which attorney used social science to argue Muller v. Oregon?Answer: Louis Brandeis. Source: Wikipedia: Muller v. Oregon
Which phrase did Justice Holmes use in Schenck v. United States for speech that the law may punish?Answer: Clear and present danger. Source: Wikipedia: Schenck v. United States
Which writer's open letter "J'Accuse...!" pressed the French government to reopen the Dreyfus case?Answer: Émile Zola. Source: Wikipedia: Dreyfus affair
Who led the defense of John Scopes at his trial in Tennessee?Answer: Clarence Darrow. Source: Wikipedia: Scopes trial
Law in history 21
Arabella Mansfield became the first woman lawyer in the United States in 1869. To the bar of which state was she admitted?Answer: Iowa. Source: Wikipedia: Arabella Mansfield
The Assize of Clarendon of 1166, which led toward trial by jury, was an act of which English king?Answer: Henry II. Source: Wikipedia: Assize of Clarendon
At which ancient site, in present-day Iran, was the stele of Hammurabi rediscovered in 1901?Answer: Susa. Source: Wikipedia: Code of Hammurabi
At which church council of 1215 did Pope Innocent III forbid priests to take part in trials by fire and water?Answer: The Fourth Council of the Lateran. Source: Wikipedia: Trial by ordeal
The British law known as the Statute of Anne also goes by a name that tells its subject. What was it about?Answer: Copyright. Source: Wikipedia: Statute of Anne
How many copies of the original Magna Carta of 1215 still exist?Answer: Four. Source: Wikipedia: Magna Carta
How many Inns of Court are there in London?Answer: Four. Source: Wikipedia: Inns of Court
How was a case settled in trial by combat?Answer: The two sides fought, and the winner was declared to be in the right. Source: Wikipedia: Trial by combat
In which city does the International Court of Justice sit?Answer: The Hague. Source: Wikipedia: International Court of Justice
In which museum is the stone stele of the Code of Hammurabi kept?Answer: The Louvre. Source: Wikipedia: Code of Hammurabi
In which year BC were the Twelve Tables of Roman law formally set out?Answer: 449 BC. Source: Wikipedia: Twelve Tables
In which year was the first Geneva Convention made?Answer: 1864. Source: Wikipedia: Geneva Conventions
In which year was the Napoleonic Code established?Answer: 1804. Source: Wikipedia: Napoleonic Code
Lex talionis, the law of exact retaliation, is better known by which phrase?Answer: An eye for an eye. Source: Wikipedia: Eye for an eye
Magna Carta is Medieval Latin for what?Answer: Great Charter. Source: Wikipedia: Magna Carta
What did the lawgiver Draco put in place of oral law and the blood feud?Answer: A written code enforced by a court. Source: Wikipedia: Draco (legislator)
What does the Latin title Corpus Juris Civilis mean?Answer: Body of Civil Law. Source: Wikipedia: Corpus Juris Civilis
Which is the oldest known law code that survives?Answer: The Code of Ur-Nammu. Source: Wikipedia: Code of Ur-Nammu
Which law school, founded in 1817, is the oldest in continuous operation in the United States?Answer: Harvard Law School. Source: Wikipedia: Harvard Law School
Which steel magnate gave the money to build the Peace Palace in The Hague?Answer: Andrew Carnegie. Source: Wikipedia: Peace Palace
Who wrote the Commentaries on the Laws of England, published between 1765 and 1769?Answer: William Blackstone. Source: Wikipedia: Commentaries on the Laws of England
Robes, quills and customs 20
A young lawyer of the 1890s was kept out of the Supreme Court until he borrowed what?Answer: A morning coat. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court and Its Traditions
An English law of the year 997 had how many leading thegns swear on relics to accuse no innocent man?Answer: Twelve. Source: Wikipedia: Jury
The court cry "Oyez!" means what?Answer: Hear ye. Source: Wikipedia: Oyez
The devil's advocate was once a real official. What did he argue against?Answer: Making a candidate a saint. Source: Wikipedia: Devil's advocate
From which medieval institutions did the barrister come?Answer: The Inns of Court. Source: Wikipedia: Barrister
In a courtroom, what is the bar that gives the legal profession its name?Answer: A railing or barrier across the room. Source: Wikipedia: Bar (law)
In England, a barrister who becomes King's Counsel is said to be "taking" what?Answer: Silk. Source: Wikipedia: King's Counsel
In the United States, which professionals put Esq. after their names?Answer: Lawyers. Source: Wikipedia: Esquire
Law French, the old language of English courts, was first based on which language?Answer: Anglo-Norman. Source: Wikipedia: Law French
On the dome of which London court stands a gilt bronze statue of Lady Justice?Answer: The Old Bailey. Source: Wikipedia: Old Bailey
The seal of the Supreme Court is like the Great Seal of the United States, with one thing added beneath the eagle's claws. What?Answer: A single star. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court and Its Traditions
Since at least which year have the justices traditionally worn black robes in Court?Answer: 1800. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court and Its Traditions
To "read the riot act" to someone has come to mean what?Answer: To give a stern warning. Source: Wikipedia: Riot Act
The Trial of the Pyx is a ceremony in the United Kingdom. What is put on trial?Answer: Newly minted coins. Source: Wikipedia: Trial of the Pyx
What is placed on the counsel tables each day that the Supreme Court sits?Answer: White quills. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court and Its Traditions
When is the name John Doe used in the courts?Answer: When a person's true name is unknown or is being kept secret. Source: Wikipedia: John Doe
Which Chief Justice began the "judicial handshake" in the late 19th century?Answer: Melville W. Fuller. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court and Its Traditions
Which lawyers still follow the old tradition of formal dress before the Supreme Court?Answer: Department of Justice and other government lawyers. Source: Supreme Court of the United States: The Court and Its Traditions
Which things mark a statue of Lady Justice?Answer: Scales, a sword and sometimes a blindfold. Source: Wikipedia: Lady Justice
The word sheriff goes back to an Old English official who managed what for the king?Answer: A shire. Source: Wikipedia: Sheriff
How this list was compiled
Written for this site; nothing was copied from another list. Questions and wrong choices are our own. Each explanation restates, in our own sentences, facts from the page named and linked beside it. Each answer was checked on 2026-10-02 against that page, fetched that day: the Glossary of Legal Terms of the United States Courts (https://www.uscourts.gov/glossary) and three pages of the Supreme Court of the United States (https://www.supremecourt.gov: The Court as an Institution, The Court and Its Traditions, The Supreme Court Building), all United States government sources, and the English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org, text under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license) for the cases, the history and the word origins. This is a quiz of definitions and dated history. The definitions of court practice are the federal courts' own, as their pages gave them on the day they were read. It is not legal advice on any case, and this site is not affiliated with any court or bar association; for a legal question, ask a lawyer. Left out on purpose: living judges and lawyers, cases after 1999, 'strange old laws' that could not be read in a statute, and records of service that a sitting judge could break. Not repeated here: facts that other quizzes on this site already ask, among them Marbury v. Madison, Brown v. Board of Education, the Miranda warning, who sealed Magna Carta and where, the Zenger trial, who led the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Hammurabi's city and Justinian's code as a name. Levels are our estimate: easy is fair for any table, medium suits a law student, hard will stump most of them. Each round is stored easiest first, and each question carries the date its page was read. Licence: own work