CFL Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the CFL exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 CFL Exam Format at a Glance
📚 CFL Topics to Study (25)
✍️ Sample CFL Questions & Answers
1. When a financial expert testifies about lost profits, the standard requiring the plaintiff to establish the fact of damage with reasonable certainty—but not necessarily the amount—is known as:
Courts require reasonable certainty that damage occurred, but permit more flexibility in quantifying the precise amount of lost profits.
2. What is the purpose of a deposition?
A deposition is a formal, out-of-court sworn testimony given by a witness or party under oath, typically recorded by a court reporter. Its primary purpose is to discover information, preserve testimony for potential use at trial, and assess the credibility of witnesses, allowing attorneys to gather facts and prepare their case.
3. During cross-examination, opposing counsel challenges a financial expert's damages model by showing the assumptions differ from those used in a prior case. This technique is called:
Highlighting contradictions between an expert's current and prior positions impeaches their credibility and consistency.
4. To obtain an ex parte asset freeze order without prior notice to the defendant, a plaintiff must typically demonstrate:
Courts grant ex parte freezing orders only upon a showing of likelihood of success on the merits, immediate and irreparable risk that assets will be dissipated, and that the equitable balance favors the order—given that the defendant has no opportunity to be heard.
5. In a securities class action, the lead plaintiff is selected based primarily on which criterion under the PSLRA?
The PSLRA creates a rebuttable presumption that the plaintiff with the largest financial interest who satisfies Rule 23 requirements should be lead plaintiff.
6. Which doctrine allows courts to disregard the separate legal existence of a corporation to reach assets held by its controlling owner?
The alter ego doctrine treats the corporation and its controller as a single entity, piercing the corporate veil when the corporation is used as a sham to perpetrate fraud or avoid liability.