Books » Law Dictionaries & Terminology Books

Arguably the most valuable reference tool available to the legal community, Black's Pocket Dictionary provides more than 10,000 clear, concise, and precise definitions. The essential companion dictionary to the Standard edition and as a stand-alone tool, Black's Pocket Dictionary also includes a dictionary guide and the complete U.S. Constitution. Black's is cited more than any other legal dictionary, comes recommended by law faculty, and is available in the pocket format and a variety of other useful editions.

Good legal writing wins court cases. In its first edition, The Winning Brief proved that the key to writing well is understanding the judicial readership. Now, in a revised and updated version of this modern classic, Bryan A. Garner explains the art of effective writing in 100 concise, practical, and easy-to-use sections. Covering everything from the rules for planning and organizing a brief to openers that can capture a judge's attention from the first few words, these tips add up to the most compelling, orderly, and visually appealing brief that an advocate can present. In Garner's view, good writing is good thinking put to paper. 'Never write a sentence that you couldn't easily speak,' he warns-and demonstrates how to do just that. Beginning each tip with a set of quotable quotes from experts, he then gives masterly advice on building sound paragraphs, drafting crisp sentences, choosing the best words ('Strike pursuant to from your vocabulary.'), quoting authority, citing sources, and designing a document that looks as impressive as it reads. Throughout, he shows how to edit for maximal impact, using vivid before-and-after examples that apply the basics of rhetoric to persuasive writing. Filled with examples of good and bad writing from actual briefs filed in courts of all types, The Winning Brief also covers the new appellate rules for preparing federal briefs. Constantly collecting material from his seminars and polling judges for their preferences, the second edition delivers the same solid guidelines with even more supporting evidence. Including for the first time sections on the ever-changing rules of acceptable legal writing, Garner's new edition keeps even the most seasoned lawyers on their toes and writing briefs that win cases. An invaluable resource for attorneys, law clerks, judges, paralegals, law students and their teachers, The Winning Brief has the qualities that make all of Garner's books so popular: authority, accessibility, and page after page of techniques that work. If you're writing to win a case, this book shouldn't merely be on your shelf--it should be open on your desk.

Edited by Bryan A. Garner, the world's leading legal lexicographer, Black's Law Dictionary, 8th Edition is now better than ever! The new 8th Edition has more than 43,000 definitions, plus almost 3,000 quotations. Alternative spellings or equivalent terms and expressions are provided for more than 5,300 terms and senses, serving a thesaurus-like function. The extensive appendix on legal abbreviations is a major addition. It's the first time such a comprehensive guide has been included in a modern law dictionary, and is an invaluable aid to the legal researcher.
-17,000 more definitions than the 7th Edition
-Newly enhanced with West Key Numbers for research reference
-Includes changes made since the creation of the department of Homeland Security
-Almost 3,000 quotations from authorities drawn from sources over at least five centuries
-More than 1,000 law-related abbreviations and acronyms are defined
-Extensive appendix on legal abbreviations
-Faculty recommended

Edited by Bryan A. Garner, the world's leading legal lexicographer, Black's Law Dictionary, 8th Edition is now better than ever! The new 8th Edition has more than 43,000 definitions, plus almost 3,000 quotations. Alternative spellings or equivalent terms and expressions are provided for more than 5,300 terms and senses, serving a thesaurus-like function. The extensive appendix on legal abbreviations is a major addition. It's the first time such a comprehensive guide has been included in a modern law dictionary, and is an invaluable aid to the legal researcher.
-17,000 more definitions than the 7th Edition
-Newly enhanced with West Key Numbers for research reference
-Includes changes made since the creation of the department of Homeland Security
-Almost 3,000 quotations from authorities drawn from sources over at least five centuries
-More than 1,000 law-related abbreviations and acronyms are defined
-Extensive appendix on legal abbreviations
-Faculty recommended

An integration of Ballentine's Law Dictionary-Legal Assistant Edition and Ballentine's Thesaurus for Legal Research and Writing it includes correct understanding and use of legal terms, pronunciation, synonyms, antonyms and parts of speech. Key words are presented alphabetically for easy access while "see and compare" cross references direct users to related entries.

A quick-reference source for lawyers, law students, legal professionals, and the interested layperson, this book defines more than 3,000 legal terms in non-technical language, but without sacrificing legal accuracy. Terms apply to civil procedure, commercial and contract law, constitutional law, criminal law, property law, and torts. This title is also available in a smaller "mass market" edition.

This up-to-date and authoritative dictionary has over 10,000 definitions of over 5,000 terms with phonetic pronunciations. Includes key words, phrases, major U.S. Supreme Court Cases, legal rules, and Acts of Congress and ethics by NALA and NFPA.

In this work it is argued that legal justification can best be studied from a procedural, dialogical point of view: legal statements are justified if the audience is convinced in an argumentative dialog. The formalized and implemented model DiaLaw guards the procedure in which two players aim at justifying statements.
DiaLaw shows the advances and problems linked to procedural models of legal justification. Moreover, an instructive discussion of the different models of procedural justification is provided.
It is stressed that in legal justification not only logically compelling arguments should be considered, but also convincing arguments. Therefore DiaLaw also deals with the rhetorical, psychological aspects of argument. This book is relevant for scholars in legal theory, artificial intelligence, and argumentation, and can be used in graduate courses on AI and Law, and legal argumentation.

This updated 6th edition of the Dictionary of Criminal Justice brings together, in one, easy-to-use guide, more than 3,600 definitions from the many disciplines that compose the field of criminal justice--including U.S. and English common law, penology, psychology, law enforcement, political science, and business administration. This volume also features summaries of nearly 1,000 key U.S. Supreme Court rulings affecting criminal justice. An appendix of juried academic journals is included, and a new compilation of Web sites in the field.

Pages: 129, Paperback, American Correctional Association