Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges
by Antonin Scalia
from Thomson West
In their professional lives courtroom lawyers must do these two things well: speak persuasively and write persuasively. In this noteworthy book, two of the most noted legal writers of our day Justice Antonin Scalia and Bryan A. Garner systematically present every important idea about judicial persuasion in a fresh, entertaining way. Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges is a guide for novice and experienced litigators alike. It covers the essentials of sound legal reasoning, including how to develop the syllogism that underlies any argument. From there the authors explain the art of brief-writing, especially what to include and what to omit, so that you can induce the judge to focus closely on your arguments. Finally, they show what it takes to succeed in oral argument. The opinions of Justice Scalia are legendary for their sharp insights, biting wit, and memorable phrasing. The writings of Bryan A. Garner, editor in chief of Black s Law Dictionary®, are respected inside and outside legal circles for their practical guidance on the art of writing and advocacy. Together the Scalia-Garner team has produced a fresh, innovative approach to a timeless topic.
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
by Jeffrey Toobin
from Doubleday
Bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin takes you into the chambers of the most important—and secret—legal body in our country, the Supreme Court, and reveals the complex dynamic among the nine people who decide the law of the land.
Just in time for the 2008 presidential election—where the future of the Court will be at stake—Toobin reveals an institution at a moment of transition, when decades of conservative disgust with the Court have finally produced a conservative majority, with major changes in store on such issues as abortion, civil rights, presidential power, and church-state relations.
Based on exclusive interviews with justices themselves, The Nine tells the story of the Court through personalities—from Anthony Kennedy's overwhelming sense of self-importance to Clarence Thomas's well-tended grievances against his critics to David Souter's odd nineteenth-century lifestyle. There is also, for the first time, the full behind-the-scenes story of Bush v. Gore—and Sandra Day O'Connor's fateful breach with George W. Bush, the president she helped place in office.
The Nine is the book bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin was born to write. A CNN senior legal analyst and New Yorker staff writer, no one is more superbly qualified to profile the nine justices.
Black's Law Dictionary, Eighth Edition (Black's Law Dictionary (Standard Edition))
from Thomson West
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
Getting To Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams
by Richard Michael Fischl
from Carolina Academic Press
Professors Fischl and Paul explain law school exams in ways no one has before, all with an eye toward improving the reader's performance. The book begins by describing the difference between educational cultures that praise students for "right answers," and the law school culture that rewards nuanced analysis of ambiguous situations in which more than one approach may be correct. Enormous care is devoted to explaining precisely how and why legal analysis frequently produces such perplexing situations.
But the authors don't stop with mere description. Instead, Getting to Maybe teaches how to excel on law school exams by showing the reader how legal analysis can be brought to bear on examination problems. The book contains hints on studying and preparation that go well beyond conventional advice. The authors also illustrate how to argue both sides of a legal issue without appearing wishy-washy or indecisive. Above all, the book explains why exam questions may generate feelings of uncertainty or doubt about correct legal outcomes and how the student can turn these feelings to his or her advantage.
In sum, although the authors believe that no exam guide can substitute for a firm grasp of substantive material, readers who devote the necessary time to learning the law will find this book an invaluable guide to translating learning into better exam performance.
Quicken Willmaker Plus 2008 Edition: Estate Planning Essentials (Book with CD-ROM)
by Editors of Nolo
from NOLO
America's No. 1 estate planning book with interactive CD-ROM software helps you create a will, living trust, living will -- and much more .
Help protect your family and your assets, and save on legal fees! Quicken WillMaker Plus Estate Planning Essential 2008 Edition provides the legal forms you need. So comprehensive, the CD-ROM assembles your forms from among 40,000 document possibilities -- but so easy to use, you'll have them finished in minutes.
Quicken WillMaker Plus Estate Planning Essential 2008 Edition includes a full "health care power of attorney." Dictate the health care you wish to receive if you can't speak for yourself, and be assured that your loved ones won't have to second-guess themselves!
Create your own:
Living Will
Health Care Power of Attorney
The CD-ROM also provides forms you can use every day, such as authorizations and agreements, child and elder care forms, promissory notes and documents to help you repair your credit.
For each document, Quicken WillMaker Plus Estate Planning Essentials 2008 Edition takes you through a step-by-step interview. Your documents will automatically reflect the laws of your state. If you have any questions, simply check out the comprehensive onscreen legal manual. Expert tech support is also available.
Need to know more? Here are in-depth details about what you can do with Quicken WillMaker Plus Estate Planning Essentials 2008 Edition:
Your Will
Provide for family, friends and charities. Name a personal guardian to care for young children. Specify the executor (or "personal representative") of your estate. Select a trusted person to manage property left to young people. Revise and update your will whenever you like.
Your Living Trust
Make a basic trust, whether you're married or single. If married, you can create a AB trust (or bypass trust) and spare your heirs from potentially heavy estate taxes. Create subtrusts for minor children and young adults. Name custodians for property left to children. Change or revoke your trust at any time.
Your Health Care Directive lets people who care for you make important decisions about your life and health when you can't. Create a:
Health Care Power of Attorney Permit a loved one to make important medical decisions for you if you are unable to do so yourself.
Living Will
Specify whether you want your life prolonged through artificial means. Appoint someone to make sure your wishes are carried out.
Your Financial Power of Attorney
Name someone to make your financial decisions, in case you are medically incapacitated. Don't worry, you can grant as much authority as you wish.
Your Final Arrangements
Plan a funeral or other ceremony. Clarify whether you want a cremation or burial. Select someone to oversee your final arrangements -- and more!
Documents for Your Executor
Make sure your executor ("personal representative" in some states) has all the forms and instructions he or she needs to do the job: Checklists, letters, notices, claim forms -- and more.
Personal Finance Documents
Over a dozen forms that let you handle financial situations you might face on any given day, such as disputing a credit card charge, lending or borrowing money to friends or family, creating bills of sale -- and more!
Home & Family Documents
Whether you need to authorize someone to travel with your child to another country, want to lend your car to a friend, or create an agreement with a trusted person to take care of your elderly parent, Quicken WillMaker Plus can handle all these family situations -- and many more!
Estate planning documents not valid in Louisiana.
Basic Legal Research: Tools And Strategies
by Amy E. Sloan
from Aspen Publishers
Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values
by Philippe Sands
from Palgrave Macmillan
On December 2, 2002 the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, signed his name at the bottom of a document that listed eighteen techniques of interrogation--techniques that defied international definitions of torture. The Rumsfeld Memo authorized the controversial interrogation practices that later migrated to Guantanamo, Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib and elsewhere, as part of the policy of extraordinary rendition. From a behind-the-scenes vantage point, Phillipe Sands investigates how the Rumsfeld Memo set the stage for a divergence from the Geneva Convention and the Torture Convention and holds the individual gatekeepers in the Bush administration accountable for their failure to safeguard international law.
On December 2, 2002 the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, signed his name at the bottom of a document that listed eighteen techniques of interrogation--techniques that defied international definitions of torture. The Rumsfeld Memo authorized the controversial interrogation practices that later migrated to Guantanamo, Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib and elsewhere, as part of the policy of extraordinary rendition. From a behind-the-scenes vantage point, Phillipe Sands investigates how the Rumsfeld Memo set the stage for a divergence from the Geneva Convention and the Torture Convention and holds the individual gatekeepers in the Bush administration accountable for their failure to safeguard international law.
Property
by James E. Krier
from Aspen Publishers, Inc.
Law School Confidential (Revised Edition): A Complete Guide to the Law School Experience: By Students, for Students
by Robert H. Miller
from St. Martin's Griffin
Kaplan LSAT 2009 Premier Program (w/ CD-ROM) (Kaplan Lsat (Book & CD-Rom))
by Kaplan
from Kaplan Publishing
Kaplan LSAT 2009: Premier Program offers ALL OFFICIAL LSAT questions throughout the book, as well as 3 OFFICIAL LSAT practice tests!
It also provides the most up-to-date content review, including strategies and practice for the new Comparative Reading passage set.
This invaluable guide features:
- NEW! All samples and practice questions are OFFICIAL LSAT questions!
- NEW! Strategies and practice for the new Comparative Reading passage set
- 3 OFFICIAL LSAT practice tests from the test maker
- 2 additional full-length practice tests on CD-ROM
- Detailed answer explanations
- Fresh practice questions delivered monthly
- Downloadable content for PDAs and cellphones
- Personalized online progress report that adapts to a student's goals and schedule
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