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Real Life Dictionary of the Law: Taking the Mystery Out of Legal Language - Hardcover

 
9781881649748: Real Life Dictionary of the Law: Taking the Mystery Out of Legal Language
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The truth is often elusive, especially when it comes to law, justice, and the legal system. Researched and written by a leading attorney and a political psychologist, this complete, easy-to-use reference book explains everything the reader is supposed to understand, opening the doors to the sometimes deliberately confusing world of law.

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From Booklist:
The press release for this specialized dictionary opens with the observation, "If you own a television set, you cannot escape the law." Simpson, Bobbit, Fleiss, and the Menendez brothers have all gotten high ratings at the electronic hearth. Real Life Dictionary, written in reader-friendly style, was created to demystify legalspeak. The authors, compilers of the Real Life Dictionary of American Politics [RBB O 1 94], are determined to bridge the gap between lawyers and laypeople.

The definitions of more than 3,000 terms may be as short as 10 words (e.g., emolument: n. salary, wages and benefits paid for employment or an office held; in fee, simple: adj. referring to holding clear title to real property) or in excess of 150 words (mechanic's lien, bigamy, negligence). Many definitions include examples, such as the one for the term innuendo: "Mayor Joe Alabaster was paid $100,000 by the Hot Springs Water Company, when it was known that Hot Springs was bucking for a contract with the city." Randomly sprinkled among the definitions are quotations from such individuals as John Locke and Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone. The final 40 pages of Real Life Dictionary consist of seven appendixes, such as the U.S. Constitution, "Major Supreme Court Decisions," and "Legal Trivia."

This source is reminiscent of such titles as Plain Language Law Dictionary (Penguin, 1981), with its simply written definitions, but is a bit more breezy and humorous in style. It will not replace standard legal dictionaries such as Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage (2d ed., Oxford, 1995) or American Law Dictionary (ABC-Clio, 1991). At $19.95, it will serve as a contemporary adjunct to these titles in public libraries. For small libraries with limited funds, this title is not in the "must have" category.

From Library Journal:
The authors of this new plain-language legal dictionary are an attorney and a political psychologist. Their explanations of 3000 common legal terms go beyond mere definitions to provide context and usage and to make sense of the arcane vocabulary of the law. The entry for "diminished capacity," for example, explains the derivation of the phrase and its application in the case involving the murder of the mayor and supervisor of San Francisco in what came to be known as the "Twinkie defense." Key concepts like "common law," "statute of limitations," and "jurisdiction" receive careful, encyclopedia-style treatment, and Latin phrases are included along with pronunciation aids. The appendixes present the U.S. Constitution, a brief explanation of the American court system, and summaries of important Supreme Court decisions. There is also a directory of bar associations, sections on legal films and trivia, and a compilation of information on states having the death penalty. References to actual court cases would have benefited from citations to their case reporters (book reproducing the cases), but the work is quite handy. [According to the publisher, the book has been spotted at the O.J. Simpson trial on both the defense team's and judge's desks.-Ed.]-Joan Pedzich, Harris, Beach & Wilcox, Rochester, N.Y.
--Joan Pedzich, Harris, Beach & Wilcox, Rochester, N.Y.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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  • PublisherGeneral Pub Group
  • Publication date1995
  • ISBN 10 1881649741
  • ISBN 13 9781881649748
  • BindingHardcover
  • Number of pages479

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