Dictionaries & Terminology

For more than a century Black's has been the gold standard for the language of law. Today it is the most widely cited law book in the world. Edited by Bryan A. Garner, the world s leading legal lexicographer, the 9th Edition is the most authoritative, comprehensive law dictionary ever published. It contains more than 45,000 terms and includes: 2,000 more terms than the 8th Edition and 19,000 more than the 7th Edition including click fraud, Code Adam, collaborative law, ecoterrorism, environmental tort, friendly subpoena, happy-slapping, honor crime, secret detention, Schumer box, and super precedent. The date when selected terms were first used in English-language contexts, especially in judicial opinions. Heightened accuracy having more than 200 lawyers around the country reviewed terms. Definitions of more than 1,000 law-related abbreviations and acronyms. Almost 3,000 quotations drawn from sources over five centuries. Alternate spellings or equivalent expressions for more than 5,300 terms and West Key Numbers.

Good legal writing wins court cases. It 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.

A convenient, comprehensive guide to the language of law for everyone from the homeowner to the legal professional. Includes more than 10,000 legal words and phrases. Many updated entries come from recent events that propelled legal terms into our daily lives, from the financial meltdown to the growth of the Internet. Includes pronunciations, example phrases and quotations, and frequent supplementary notes. Special sections on the judicial system, important legal cases, government agencies, and historic laws.

For the first time, definitions in this edition have been reviewed by a panel of scholars and expert practitioners under a review process similar to that for the other editions of this reference. Definitions of terms and cross-referencing have also been dramatically improved.

Updated to include new terms such as "civil union" and to incorporate recent changes in laws and judicial interpretations, this handy dictionary cuts through the complexities of legal jargon and presents definitions and explanations that can be understood by non-lawyers. Approximately 2,500 terms are given with definitions and explanations for the benefit of consumers, business proprietors, legal beneficiaries, investors, property owners, litigants, and all others who have dealings with the law. Terms are arranged alphabetically from Abandonment and Abatable Nuisance, all the way through to Writ, Yellow Dog Contract, and Zoning.

This new edition of Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage discusses and analyzes modern legal vocabulary and style more thoroughly than any other contemporary reference work. Since the first edition, Bryan A. Garner has drawn on his unrivaled experience as a legal editor to refine his position on legal usage. The new Third Edition remains indispensable: Garner has updated entries throughout, while adding eight hundred new entries and new senses of existing entries, as well as thousands of new illustrative quotations from judicial opinions and leading lawbooks. Garner has also revised the selected bibliography, and expanded and updated cross-references to guide readers quickly and easily.

The GDLU now has much greater depth in particular areas of law, such as immigration and intellectual property. More examples from British English sources are included, to illustrate the similarities and differences between American and British English, and to aid readers using foreign common-law sources. Dozens of sets of near-synonyms that have long perplexed lawyers are now concisely defined and differentiated. Asterisks now precede words and phrases that are invariably inferior forms, making it easy for readers to tell which ones to avoid. A new category called Interpretation, Modes of, outlines the theories and defines the terminology of interpretation, also known as hermeneutics. Entries contain the most comprehensive glossary available for words and phrases related to legal interpretation. And, for the first time ever, sources are consistently cited throughout, with a solid majority of citations from post-2000. A new preface introduces the reader to this edition and discusses the extensive content that has been newly incorporated.

Influential writers and editors rely on Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage daily. It is an essential resource for practicing lawyers, legal scholars, and libraries of all sizes and types, functioning as both a style guide and a law dictionary, guiding writers to distinguish between true terms of law and mere jargon and illustrating recommended forms of expression. Common blunders are discussed in ways that will discourage writers from any further use. The origins of frequently used expressions are described with engaging prose. Collectively, there is no better resource for approaching legal writing in a logical, clear, and error-free way.

Considered the most valuable reference tool available to the legal community, Black's Pocket Dictionary provides more than 13,000 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 by judges and lawyers 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.

Updated to reflect recent modifications in federal and state law, this book is a quick-reference source for lawyers, law students, legal professionals, and interested laypersons. The author defines more than 5,000 legal terms, using nontechnical language that remains legally accurate. Terms are documented with citations and apply to civil procedure, commercial and contract law, constitutional law, criminal law, property law, and torts. This title is also available in a smaller trim-size and type-size "mass market" edition.

A huge amount of legal information is contained within this compact and orderly book. All legal terms are easy-to-find and up-to-date, and the book includes definitions, pronunciation, and easily understood explanations. Structured into short, easily digested chapters, Legal Terminology presents the fundamentals of the principal areas of the law, including: terms used in criminal law, tort law, contract law, personal property and agency law, practice and procedure law, will and estate law, trust law, family law, law of negotiable instruments, and business organization law. An excellent reference work for lawyers, legal secretaries, paralegals, legal assistants, and court personnel.

Prepared by the acclaimed legal lexicographer Bryan A. Garner, the ninth edition of Black s Law Dictionary is a major advancement for the world s most-cited lawbook. The update was reviewed by a panel of 225 legal practitioners from across the country, as well as 65 renowned law professors. This edition features 20% more content than the abridged eighth edition, with emphasis on emerging fields of law, incorporating new legal terms from ableism, bear hug, and click fraud to X-patent, yank-cheating, and zygote intrafallopian transfer. Parts of speech, etymology, and pronunciation are provided where appropriate, plus dozens of subject and usage labels.