Law is a complex and dynamic field that affects virtually every aspect of our lives. From criminal law to civil law, from constitutional law to international law, the laws that govern society are constantly evolving and adapting to the changing needs and values of society. Understanding the laws that shape our world is essential to participating in society and making informed decisions about the issues that affect us.
Law trivia questions provide a fun and engaging way to test your knowledge of the legal system and the laws that govern our world. Whether you are a law student, a lawyer, or just someone interested in learning more about the law, law trivia is a great way to expand your knowledge and challenge yourself. From the basics of the legal system to more complex legal concepts, law trivia covers a wide range of topics and provides a wealth of information about the legal system.
Here are some examples of law trivia questions: What is the difference between criminal law and civil law? What is the purpose of the U.S. Constitution? What is the difference between a federal court and a state court? How does the legal system in the United States compare to the legal systems in other countries? These questions and others like them offer a glimpse into the fascinating and complex world of law.
111 Law Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- On the books since 1986, a federal law that may allow an employee to temporarily keep healthcare coverage after employment ends is most commonly known by what "snaky" abbreviation?
Answer: COBRA
- Fictional Harvard Law grad Frank Underwood was a President who resigned from office on what Netflix series?
Answer: House of Cards
- We’ll take law terms that serve as Ashley Judd movie titles for $1200, Alex. What two-word phrase essentially means that a person cannot be tried or punished for the same offense more than once?
Answer: Double Jeopardy
- Premiering in 1999 as the second series in the successful "Law & Order" franchise, what does the SVU stand for in "Law & Order: SVU?"
Answer: Special Victims Unit
- In June 2023, Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill into law eliminating the requirement for annual auto inspections in what U.S. state?
Answer: Texas
- Celebrated on the 19th day of the sixth month of the year, what is the newest addition to the U.S. federal holiday calendar, as signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021?
Answer: Juneteenth
- If you’re a recent law school grad, what position helping out a judge would behoove you to apply for so you can gain real-world experience with research and writing?
Answer: Clerk
- In civil engineering, Abrams’ law describes the strength of which type of building material that is composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together?
Answer: Concrete
- Derived from the Latin for “twist,” what term is used in common law for a civil wrong that causes a party to loss or harm?
Answer: Tort
- What "A" word signifies a jury verdict that a criminal defendant is not guilty? The word may also indicate a judge's finding that the presented evidence is insufficient for a conviction.
Answer: Acquittal
- The No Child Left Behind Act was an Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and was signed into law by what U.S. President?
Answer: George W Bush
- During the summer of 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed what act into law which established a system of old-age federal benefits?
Answer: Social Security Act
- Aunt Viv's husband, Uncle Phil, runs for Superior Court Judge against his former law school mentor in an episode of what 1990s sitcom?
Answer: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- Which of the three branches of government in the United States is made up of courts to uphold the law in the name of the states?
Answer: Judiciary
- A Texas carnival barker named Norma McCorvey used what pseudonymous surname to represent herself in a landmark 1973 Supreme Court Case? The case had vast political and medical implications.
Answer: Roe
- What EU nation that's home to the Pompidou Centre and Reims Cathedral passed a law in 2023 requiring parking lots of more than 80 spaces to have canopies of solar panels?
Answer: France
- What is the word used for a procedure where citizens vote whether to uphold or repeal a law that the legislature has passed? Twenty-three U.S. states allow for this type of vote.
Answer: Referendum
- In November 2023, the incoming New Zealand government announced that it would repeal a law created under the previous government that would have led to the eventual ban of what activity?
Answer: Smoking
- Savannah International Airport in Georgia is thought to be home to the only runway in the U.S. which includes what two objects within the runway? These objects were discovered during construction and federal law generally prohibits the moving of these objects without permission of next of kin.
Answer: Marked gravestones
- An 1889 public viewing of an accidentally electrocuted worker from what company (now known for money transfers) led to New York's law requiring utilities to be buried underground?
Answer: Western Union
- What “S” word refers to law that is passed by a body of legislature? Its name resembles sculptures that commemorate historical figures, but not exactly.
Answer: Statutory
- Protection of what right came within the purview of the Library of Congress in 1870, although it had been created by law in 1790? Prior to 1870, the right had been protected by the Federal District Courts.
Answer: Copyright
- The office in a court is responsible for security, guarding juries, and often giving what two-word order when the judge enters?
Answer: All Rise
- Lyon, France is home to what border-spanning law enforcement agency?
Answer: Interpol
- In 1997, David Wolf became the first American to vote from where? A Texas state law enabled him to do so.
Answer: Space
- The U.S. Immigration Act of 1882 is the first and only time that federal law prohibited immigration to America from a specific country. What country is that?
Answer: China
- What word refers to the Islamic concept of immutable law derived from the will of Allah? It is contrasted with human scholarly interpretations of the law, known as Fiqh.
Answer: Sharia
- Wilmington-born Raúl Esparza played assistant DA Rafael Barba on what "Law & Order" spinoff that focuses on sexually related crimes?
Answer: SVU
- With the passing of the Bitcoin Law in June 2021, which Central American nation became the first country in the world to have a form of cryptocurrency as legal tender?
Answer: El Salvador
- What president signed into law the Federal Highway Act which established the interstate highway system? This president had called for such a system of highways in his State of the Union address two years before the Act was passed by Congress.
Answer: Dwight Eisenhower
- With famous alums including Hillary Clinton and Sonia Sotomayor, what Ivy League university's law school is ranked #1 in America by U.S. News and World Report?
Answer: Yale
- Although the movie "Legally Blonde" is based on Harvard's Law School, the author of the book (the source material for the movie) was based on Amanda Brown's experience at what other law school? Hint: The answer is in the same state as UCLA, where much of the movie was filmed.
Answer: Stanford
- In a 1987 film starring Peter Weller and Nancy Allen, the city of Detroit signs a deal with the company Omni Consumer Products to re-build parts of the city into a utopia and introduce a law enforcement robot ED-209. What is this film?
Answer: RoboCop
- When you graduate Law School in the U.S., you are the recipient of a J.D. degree. What does J.D. stand for?
Answer: Juris Doctor
- Led by President Alexander Lukashenko, what Eastern European nation passed a January 2023 law allowing piracy of software whose copyright holders are from "unfriendly nations?"
Answer: Belarus
- What’s the less formal yet more well-known term for judicial precedent? (Hint: It’s also known as judge-made law or case law, as it’s an unwritten law that judges set based on precedent from previous court cases rather than statutes)
Answer: Common
- Beatrice Morrow Cannady was a civil rights advocate born in 1889 and became a longtime editor of "The Advocate" which was the largest African American newspaper in Portland, Oregon. She was also the first Black female to practice law in Oregon, and was a founding member of the city's chapter of what 1909-founded organization?
Answer: NAACP
- What "B" word signifies a legislative body that has two bodies or chambers?
Answer: Bicameral
- From 1961-1963 former Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg worked at the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure. As a researcher for the project, her views on gender equality were greatly shaped by her time spent in which progressive Nordic country? She ended up learning the language of this country to co-author a book on civil procedure there in 1965.
Answer: Sweden
- The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development was officially founded in 1965 in a law signed by what then-President?
Answer: Lyndon B. Johnson
- When you hear law clerks in D.C. talking about "The Highest Court in the Land," they might be talking about the Supreme Court, but they also might be referring to a space on the Court's fifth floor reserved for what activity?
Answer: Basketball
- What 1803 Supreme Court case famous established the precedent of judicial review?
Answer: Marbury v Madison
- Famously, Reinheitsgebot is the series of rules and regulations limiting the ingredients of beer in Germany and former states of the Holy Roman Empire. The best-known version of the law went into effect in 1516 in what landlocked German state?
Answer: Bavaria
- The famous Supreme Court case which unanimously ruled that segregation is unconstitutional pitted Brown vs. the Board of Education from what city (currently the 5th largest in Kansas)?
Answer: Topeka
- As of 2024, most of the Supreme Court justices in the United States have a law degree from 1 of 2 Ivy League institutions. Name either school.
Answer: Yale, Harvard
- What famous U.S. court figure received her J.D. from New York Law School in 1965 and handled over 20,00 family court cases in Manhattan before retiring from her position in the 1990s, when the second phase of her career brought her worldwide fame?
Answer: Judge Judy
- Ten years after his death, several criminals attempted to steal and ransom Lincoln's remains, but were caught by what federal law enforcement agency that is currently nested within the Department of Homeland Security?
Answer: Secret Service
- Although the agency was not known as such back then, the FDA's regulatory function began with the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, signed into law by what President?
Answer: Theodore Roosevelt
- In June 2021, a landmark parentage law recognizing same-sex marriages, surrogacy, and non-traditional families was passed by what Constitution State?
Answer: Connecticut
- President Joe Biden called what U.S. state's Election Integrity Act, which was signed into law in March 2021, "Jim Crow in the 21st century?"
Answer: Georgia
- What member of the Gwawa’enuk Nation in British Columbia wrote the 2018 book “21 Things You May Not Know About The Indian Act,” about how the 1876 law oppresses native Canadians, and how Indigenous peoples can rise above it?
Answer: Bob Joseph
- In 2012, President Barack Obama signed the JOBS Act (also known as the CROWDFUND Act) into law to help small businesses in the U.S. get funded. What does the acronym JOBS stand for?
Answer: Jumpstart Our Business Startups
- While he was still playing Julian Beck on “Law & Order,” which actor wrote a play called “Almost, Maine” that was no doubt inspired by his childhood in Presque Isle?
Answer: John Cariani
- Back in your law school days, you probably tried out arguments in a hypothetical case. Which M-word describes these fictional courts?
Answer: Moot
- In 2022, the Florida legislature passed a law abolishing the RCID, an "improvement district" that's home to Walt Disney World. What does the "RC" stand for in "RCID?"
Answer: Reedy Creek
- A graduate and later professor of Uppsala University, Axel Brusewitz was a leading political scientist known as an expert in the constitutional law of what Scandinavian nation?
Answer: Sweden
- Which NYU school was established in 1835 (making it the oldest in the city) and was one of the first schools in its field to admit women?
Answer: Law
- A U.S. president that prevents a congressional-passed bill from becoming a law at the end of a session is described as enacting what kind of veto that sounds like it's a type of clothing attachment?
Answer: Pocket veto
- In a win for plaintiffs such as the Fayetteville Public Library, a federal judge in July 2023 granted an injunction against a law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians who provide "harmful" books in which U.S. state?
Answer: Alabama
- Under the 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea Convention, how far out from the shore do a nation's territorial waters stretch, where the country has full jurisdiction over vessels?
Answer: 12 Nautical Miles
- NASBLA is a national nonprofit that works on public policies around recreational boating. "NAS" stands for "National Association of State"...but what does "BLA" stand for?
Answer: Boating Law Administrators
- On its website, it says that the firm is now nationwide law with marquee private and insurance clients in the United States, United Kingdom, and which archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean?
Answer: Bermuda
- The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (the precursor to the Clean Water Act), the first major law in the U.S. to deal with water pollution, came into being in what year?
Answer: 1948
- Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) is a federal payroll tax law that states Medicare and what other tax must be collected from both employees and employers?
Answer: Social Security
- The Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in the U.S., was passed more than 40 shameful years after the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled explicitly against early women suffragettes. Who was president when the Nineteenth Amendment passed?
Answer: Woodrow Wilson
- Which U.S. President signed the Medicare and Medicaid Act into law on July 30, 1965?
Answer: Lyndon B. Johnson
- What famous sixth king of the First Babylonian Dynasty became famous for his titular "code" which importantly shifted law codes from compensating victims to physical punishment of perpetrators?
Answer: Hammurabi
- Although he was initially kicked out of university because of his proclivity to incite student protests, he eventually completed a law degree more than thirty years later after he was released from prison. Who is this man?
Answer: Nelson Mandela
- What 1896 Supreme Court decision upheld a Louisiana law forbidding a Black man to board a whites-only train car, with a "separate but equal" doctrine that perpetuated Jim Crow laws thereafter?
Answer: Plessy v. Ferguson
- Take a South American country's name. Drop one letter. You're left with the name of a "Law and Order: SVU" detective. Name the country or the detective.
Answer: Bolivia or Olivia
- Inspired by similar wording in the English Bill of Rights from the 1600s, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted" is the text of which amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
Answer: Eighth
- Often referred to by its abbreviation ESSA, what 2015 federal law replaced the No Child Left Behind Act to set standards for U.S. K-12 education policy?
Answer: Every Student Succeeds Act
- Vonda Shepard's "Searchin' My Soul" was the theme song to what '90s legal comedy set at the law firm of Cage and Fish?
Answer: Ally McBeal
- What C-word describes a judge other than a chief judge at one of the U.S. courts of appeals?
Answer: Circuit Judge
- According to the U.S. Department of Justice's own legal glossary website (who knew?), what word holds the following definition? "The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision. Also called “affirm.”
Answer: Uphold
- She joined the staff of Harvard Law School in 1995, and in 2011, she was the only tenured professor on staff at Harvard Law who had attended law school at an American public university. Who is she?
Answer: Elizabeth Warren
- Byron White was a 20th-century Supreme Court justice with dissenting opinions on cases as famous as Roe v. Wade. Intriguingly, before pursuing his law career, he was one of the most celebrated players in what American sports league?
Answer: NFL
- In 2000, four female attorneys joined forces to create what Family Law firm, whose name is reminiscent of a Jackson 5 hit released in 1970?
Answer: ABC Family Law
- The etymology of the term directly ties it to Latin and Old English terms for ordained ministers, but in its current usage in the American legal field it often refers to a paralegal. What is the term?
Answer: Clerk
- Featuring former SVU detective Elliot Stabler going after a mob family, what "Law & Order" spinoff premiered on NBC on April 1, 2021?
Answer: Organized Crime
- In September 2018, Juan David Ortiz was indicted for 4 separate murders after a potential 5th victim escaped. Ortiz was quickly labeled a "serial killer" by the media, which was especially problematic as he lived in southern Texas and worked for what federal law enforcement agency?
Answer: U.S. Border Patrol
- John Houseman won a Supporting Actor Oscar playing demanding contract law professor Charles Kingsfield in what 1973 Harvard Law dramedy?
Answer: The Paper Chase
- In common law legal systems, what single-word term is used for unreasonable delay in asserting a claim, which may result in its dismissal? This term derives from the Latin “laxus” meaning “loose”.
Answer: Laches
- The branch of a military which specializes in military justice and law is called JAG Corps. Also the elongated title of a long-running CBS courtroom drama, JAG is short for what three-word title?
Answer: Judge Advocate General
- For nearly 40 years starting in the 1910s, Memphis was considered under the influence of "machine politics" headed by E.H. Crump. This man even passed a law that established a small commission to manage the city from which he would profit. What was the unsurprising nickname of Crump?
Answer: Boss
- In what country was the first employer's liability insurance law enacted in 1871, which allowed employees who were injured on the job to sue their employers? The second act of this nature was Britain's Employer Liability Act of 1880, which allowed employees to sue without having to prove that their employer was negligent.
Answer: Germany
- What is the minimum age one must be under federal law to legally drive commercially between states?
Answer: 21
- Already familiar with marshaling from "Justified" and "Fargo" what actor played pseudo-law dude Cobb Vanth on "The Mandalorian" episode, "The Marshal"?
Answer: Timothy Olyphant
- In "My Cousin Vinny," the titular character fools a trial judge who has what 10-letter first name which is also the title of a profession which manages the household of a sovereign or other noble figure?
Answer: Chamberlain
- In 2021, Sotheby's auctioned a specific edition of the Nike Hyperdunk basketball sneaker created for what man? The shoes are one of only two pairs in existence, with the other gifted to this man. As a hint, this man's brother-in-law coached the Oregon State and Brown University basketball teams in the 2000s.
Answer: Barack Obama
- What is the body-part-named ability of local courts to exercise jurisdiction over defendants from outside their geographic domain?
Answer: Long-arm jurisdiction
- In 1935, Nebraska governor LeRoy Cochrane declared martial law in Omaha because of a strike by what workers? The governor acted in response to violence (including several bombings) and riots.
Answer: Streetcar
- There is one current justice on the U.S. Supreme Court that graduated from Harvard Law the same year as Barack Obama. Who is it?
Answer: Neil Gorsuch
- What short-lived series (2005-2006) in the Law & Order franchise starred Bebe Neuwirth and focused mainly on the criminal trial of the accused?
Answer: Law and Order: Trial by Jury
- In April 2021, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a bill legalizing cannabis possession by adults 21 and older in what northeastern U.S. state?
Answer: New Jersey
- Although it was not created specifically to address the Internet, the personal-information law known as PIPEDA has an effect on Internet privacy. In what country was PIPEDA enacted in 2000?
Answer: Canada
- In 1777, Frederick the Great of Prussia tried to outlaw coffeehouses, hoping that the populace would return to drinking what other beverage instead?
Answer: Beer
- Within 4, how many federal judicial districts exist in the United States?
Answer: 94 (90 - 98)
- What Harvard Law Class of 1983 graduate and Virginia senator did Hillary Clinton select as her running mate in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election?
Answer: Tim Kaine
- A measure in the Tax Cuts and Job Act introduced a tax of 1.4% on certain university endowments. Then-President Donald Trump signed the TCJA into law in November of what year?
Answer: 2017
- In order to track suspects, which major U.S. law enforcement agency created the electronic surveillance tools Magic Lantern (a trojan horse keystroke logger) and CIPAV (a piece of spyware that tracks user location via digital methods)?
Answer: The FBI
- What U.S. president signed the bill into law that made the first Monday in January a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday?
Answer: Ronald Reagan
- While working as a lawyer in Illinois in 1858, Abraham Lincoln produced what two-word manual to prove that the witness testimony of seeing a crime in the moonlight could not have been true? Lincoln ultimately won the case.
Answer: Farmers' Almanac
- What Boston-area school has a total of around 10,000 students, is the eighth largest university in Metro Boston, and was initially founded in 1906 as "Archer's Evening Law School," with an original goal to "serve ambitious young men who are obliged to work for a living while studying law?"
Answer: Suffolk University
- What Italian saint differentiated between four kinds of law (eternal, divine positive, natural, and human law) in his 13th century "Treatise on Law?"
Answer: Thomas Aquinas
- The fight over teaching evolution in classrooms went to court in 1925 for the famous Scopes Trial. Who argued for the prosecution against John Scopes? This famous lawyer's other hot-button issue was the gold standard.
Answer: William Jennings Bryan
- Legislation to safeguard personal data on the Internet might feel very 21st century, but the first data protection law appeared in 1973. Which Northern European country passed the Data Act?
Answer: Sweden
- In 2009, Vermont ice cream entrepreneurs Ben and Jerry's changed just one sound in the name of which of their popular ice cream flavors to celebrate a new state law legalizing same-sex marriage?
Answer: Chubby Hubby (to Hubby Hubby)
- What “L” San Diego law firm, founded by namesake attorney Joel on University Avenue, specializes in employment law?
Answer: Larabee
- Which legal term (roughly “we send” in Latin) is a civil arrest warrant put out when a person has failed to appear in court and may need to be physically brought to court by law enforcement?
Answer: Capias Mittimus
- IE University, which began as a graduate school in business and law in 1973, opened up to undergraduates in 2006, with its undergraduate campus in what Spanish city?
Answer: Segovia
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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