law

Basic Legal Research: Tools And Strategies

The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law

Whether you're a student struggling through Composition 101 or a professional writer on a quest for perfection, The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law is always ready to fill the role of trusted advisor to your creative genius. Revised and updated in 2000, this version contains a 40-page section on media law, guides for punctuation and bibliographies, and specialized glossaries for business and sports writing, all in addition to its 280-page generalized stylebook.

Within each section, entries are alphabetized, and searching for an answer is a fairly simple process. Tricky words--those that can be hyphenated (know-how) or not (jukebox), homonyms, nonstandard spellings (mo-ped)--are given their own short entries. Larger categories, such as religions, military titles, the Internet, and datelines, have multiple pages devoted to their explanations, but detail and clarity are brought nicely together in each listing. Many entries concern brand names and trademarks--never again will you question whetherpingpong or Ping-Pong should be used in the flier for your table-tennis tournament.

While a few sections of this book--the ones concerning media law, photo captions, filing the wire, and proofreading marks--will most likely be used by professional and student journalists and editors, the majority of this book is an excellent tool for anyone who ever has to write for the public. Whether it's a newsletter for your badminton league, a training manual for your employees, or a press release detailing your company's quarterly earnings, this stylebook will help you turn out well-written copy that gains the approval of every English teacher you've ever had. --Jill Lightner

Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges

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

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.

Property

The Official LSAT SuperPrep

Getting To Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams

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.

Black's Law Dictionary, Eighth Edition (Black's Law Dictionary (Standard Edition))

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

Quicken Willmaker Plus 2008 Edition: Estate Planning Essentials (Book with CD-ROM)

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:

Wills, Trusts, and Estates (Casebook) (Casebook)

Regarded as one of the best casebooks available for any course, this comprehensive text combines interesting cases, well-tailored notes, and a clear organization into an excellent teaching tool.

The new Seventh Edition retains the late Jesse Dukeminier's unique blend of wit, erudition, insight, and playfulness and covers all the key topics in a logical, clear organization. Included are interesting cases that are not only fun to read, but fun for professors to teach as well. Cases are enhanced and connected to broader legal principles by well-written notes, questions, and problems and cartoons, illustrations, and photographs provide humorous interruptions and visual commentary at appropriate places within the text. New authors James Lindgren and Robert Sitkoff updated the book to reflect legal change while remaining careful to retain the same interesting mix of cases, engaging notes and flexible organization that makes this a highly successful casebook. Additions and improvements to the previous edition include due attention to new developments in law reform by the ALI and NCCUSL such as: Restatement Third, Trusts (2003, Uniform Trust Code (2000) including proposed 2004 amendments, Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers (2001, 2003)and Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act (2002. Attention is given to ongoing developments in the law such as inheritance rights of posthumously conceived children, standing of donors in suits against the trustees of charitable trusts, the rise of domestic offshore self-settled spendthrift trusts, the erosion of the rule against perpetuities and the rise of the perpetual, generation-skipping trust. There is enhanced coverage of increasingly important topics such as fiduciary administration and trust investment law (including modern portfolio theory, diversification, the principal and income problem, and measuring damages; and inheritance rights of same-sex partners, inheritance rights of children, with comparison to the other common law countries (which are far more generous to children). Also included is a more logical presentation of nonprobate transfers and their role in estate planning, fully updated tax chapter with attention to new developments such as the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. Notes, questions, and problems have been revised throughout where appropriate in light of the foregoing and other developments.