Legal Systems Books

The Death of Common Sense: How Law is Suffocating America

Philip K. Howard

Amazon Price: $12.30 List Price: $13.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Grand Central Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 203 new & used starting at $0.05

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 55 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Death of Common Sense 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Well-written and well-researched book that presents the frightening picture of the beast that law in America has become. The author provides good historical background for the reader to appreciate the insidious development of what has become our current laws, how these laws have actually become impediments for progress and justice, and good discussions regarding the challenges facing any rational correction of this quagmire.

Very worthwhile and insightful reading.

Deflecting responsibility from his own profession 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

The anecdotes are indeed maddening; of course the law and bureaucratic process can be described as "inefficient". However, over and again, Howard says, "Anyone can accuse anyone of anything," which is true, but he acts like the ability to accuse someone is the same as rendering judgment, and therefore our right to call someone to task in a court of law should be abridged. He neglects the fact that, once in the court of law, it is up to the lawyers and judges, and juries when appropriate, to dismiss cases that have no merit. If that is not being done, it is not the problem of us American citizens "having too many rights" but that his slimy profession is without any moral compass. And his book, while thought-provoking and entertaining, is at heart a call for less oversight of those in power, because those without power are slowing them down. I expect he's very happy with Bush and Cheney and their dismantling of so many of our inconvenient "rights". Read it, but with a pile of salt.

Editorial Review:

In a critically acclaimed, well-researched attack on legal regulations and bureaucratic red tape, a corporate lawyer shows how rules interfere with common sense and have taken away citizens' power to make decisions. Reprint. National ad/promo. NYT.

A Handbook of Basic Law Terms (Black's Law Dictionary Series)

Amazon Price: $13.50 List Price: $15.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: West Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 28 new & used starting at $8.70

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Black's Law Dictionary Series 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Excellent and concise. Perfect for carrying and as a companion to any law text you may be reading.

Handbook of basic law terms 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is a wonderful book. It is great to have and helpful in my criminal justice and law classes. I would recommend to a friend

too small 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Although it is cheap, there's not very much in it. I was disappointed not to find any of the terms I needed reading cases for my first week of class. Spend the money and buy the regular 8th edition.

Law Terms for Dummies 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Very basic terms... this is good for a journalism major or anyone else (perhaps if you are reading a fictional law book) who wants to have a basic understanding of law terms. Good for the price.

Basic Law Terms Review 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

It works. An actual "Black's Law" book would have been better or an Oxford dictionary.

Editorial Review:

Derived from the world's most widely cited and best-selling legal reference, Black's Law Dictionary, this US title includes more than 1,000 key words and phrases with accurate and clear definitions. Also includes the full U.S. Constitution and a list of basic law books for easy reference.

The Ten Biggest Legal Mistakes Women Can Avoid : How to Protect Yourself, Your Children and Your Assets (Capital Ideas) (Capital Ideas)

Marilyn Barrett

Amazon Price: $13.45 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Capital Books Amazon Marketplace: 24 new & used starting at $8.15

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Accounting -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Women are amazingly adept at multi-tasking, balancing home and work and relationships, managing finances, and generally learning whatever is needed to get the job done or to take care of things. Why then do we get ourselves into avoidable legal messes? During Marilyn Barrett s more than twenty years of practicing law, she has found that women of all socioeconomic and educational levels consistently make certain mistakes that land them in an attorney s office. These legal messes can devastate them economically and emotionally, and make them desperate. This book describes - in plain, non-legalese language - the basic preventative measures women can take to avoid the following legal pitfalls when they fail to protect themselves and their children in - Legal title to property - Prenuptial agreements -Marriage and divorce - Starting and running a business -Paying taxes - Estate planning, and - Hiring attorneys. A comprehensive appendix of sample documents provides added protection. By using plain English and focusing on the general information women need to know, and telling women s stories that show how easy it is to get into a bad situation, Ms. Barrett becomes a pocket attorney for all women. The book has been endorsed by Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Ballentine's Legal Dictionary/Thesaurus (Lawyers Cooperative Publishing)

Jonathon Lynton

Amazon Price: $82.36 List Price: $113.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Delmar Cengage Learning Amazon Marketplace: 31 new & used starting at $6.95

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

It's A Book. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I bought this for my girlfriend, who had recently got a job at a law firm. The book served it's purpose as a nice law reference.

Editorial Review:

A handy and practical reference for the legal assistant

Gerry Spence: Gunning for Justice

Gerry Spence

List Price: $17.95 By: Doubleday Amazon Marketplace: 18 new & used starting at $1.20

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Early Spence makes it worthwhile 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 6 people found this review helpful.

It really only deserves 4 stars if your a Spence fan or a hard-core true crime fan. It's the same style as all of Spences others, if that's good or bad I can't say. Find out about his Karen Silkwood radiation case along with his defending a cop that killed another cop and his prosecuting the man that blew up his lawyer buddy and his family. P.S. SOMEONE ON THIS SIGHT IS SELLING IT FOR $...!? I'VE PASSED UP MANY USED COPIES FOR $... OR LESS.

Self-Portrait, Warts and All 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Spence tells about some of the cases he worked on during his career. Some were nationally famous, others not. He offers comments about various topics, and also talks about his life. This book lacks an index and photographs. The wordiness of this book reminds me of 19th century novels. Spence tells about his career as an insurance company lawyer. In effect, he showed up after the accidents and halted compensation to the victims. Until he rejected this work and vowed never to work for a corporation again.

Spence represented the Silkwood estate against the Kerr-McGee company. Karen was killed on her way to meet a reporter. Her plant manufactured plutonium for breeder reactors; this was a deadly threat to the profits and influence of Big Oil and their puppets in government. Karen allegedly fell asleep at the wheel after leaving a cafe. Didn't something like this happen to one of the witnesses at the Grassy Knoll?

Page 183 tells how support for the anti-nuclear movement came from "certain charities and funding organizations". Are these the hidden hands of Big Oil? Page 216 quotes a witness "there is no safe level for radiation". Spence argued "if the lion gets away, Kerr-McGee has to pay"; any deadly thing (like plutonium) requires absolute control by the owner. He won the case, but it was overturned by appointed judges (p.458-460). Page 328 tells of advice on cross-examination of a witness. "Don't get angry. Don't rise to the bait. Answer only when you're ready. And if you're confused, say so, and above all, tell the truth. Its easy to remember the truth."

Spence is opposed to the death penalty (like Earl Rogers). But pages 367-371 give the strongest argument that I've read for the death penalty. Not as punishment or a deterrence, but simply so society can survive without fear. Pages 379-383 gives his talk to an ABA convention on the subject of trial lawyers. They are the foot soldiers in the front trenches of the justice system. I think this is one of the most important parts of the book. Our lawyers are the virtual descendants of warriors who settled trials by combat.

One case was the murder charge against Ed Cantrell. I wonder if he was the scapegoat for the alleged corruption in Rock Springs Wyoming> TV and newspapers created something out of nothing (pp. 453-457). Anyone who believes everything the media broadcast and print must read this. You may then be able to understand the reporting on some other trials.

Attorney for the Damned: Clarence Darrow in the Courtroom

Clarence Darrow

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Excellent 5 out of 5 stars.
24 of 36 people found this review helpful.

It is nice to know that in one point in our society that there was somebody whocared about the little guy, the poor,the downridden, the underdog etc.,Clarence Darrow found a cause and stuckto it like a fly on poop. It takes guts to stand up against the establishmentand never apologize for it.We need more guys like him.

If this guy isnt your hero he should be. 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 17 people found this review helpful.

Book is stunning. Makes you realize that language used to be more valued. The guy was amazing simply amazing.

Biography of a deeply flawed man and attorney 1 out of 5 stars.
7 of 83 people found this review helpful.

Contrary to the myth surrounding the "heroic" Clarence Darrow, as a fighter for the common man and downtrodden, the real Clarence Darrow was a socialist who despised the United States, its legal system, and Christianity. In actual fact, he lost his two most famous trials- Scopes, and Loeb and Leopold. He was also put on trial himself for jury tampering- bribing jurors to acquit his client. Only through the work of the greatest trial attorney of that age, Earl Rogers, was Darrow acquitted. Stories abound in Chicago legal circles about Darrow's bribery of Cook County jurors, the real secret to his "success". His personal life was a failure. If this man is your hero, you need to rethink your life.

Editorial Review:

"Clarence Darrow [was] perhaps the most effective courtroom opponent of cant, bigotry, and special privilege that our country has produced. All of Darrow's most celebrated pleas are here—in defense of Leopold and Loeb (1924), of Lieutenant Massie (1932), of Big Bill Haywood (1907), of Thomas Scopes (1925), and of himself for attempted bribery."—The New Yorker

Ballentine's Law Dictionary: Legal Assistant Edition

Jack Handler

Amazon Price: $48.92 List Price: $72.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Delmar Cengage Learning Amazon Marketplace: 67 new & used starting at $0.53

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Just starting with law terminology 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I just entered school for legal assisting and this book is coming in handy to complete some of the definitions we are learning. I am glad I got this book. I will certainly come back to this website for future items. Thanks for your interest in my review.

Ballentine's Law Dictionary: Legal Assistant Edition 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Excellent book and easy to use. Very satisfied.

Editorial Review:

Of all the confusing jargons of the world, legalese takes the cake. But you no longer need pay $200 an hour just to understand the subtleties of liquidated claims, percentage leases, blockage rules, and confiscatory rate orders. Ballentine's defines more than 5,000 legal terms, and provides phonetic pronunciations, major Supreme Court cases, legal rules, and pertinent acts of Congress, making the dictionary a boon to legal assistants, law students, and the ordinary citizen, hereinafter known as you, who'd like to be able to read a contract, understand it, and not get a headache.

The Oxford Companion to American Law (Oxford Companions)

Amazon Price: $51.17 List Price: $79.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Oxford University Press, USA Amazon Marketplace: 52 new & used starting at $8.43

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A landmark in legal publishing, The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court is a now classic text many of whose entries are regularly cited by scholars as the definitive statement on any particular subject. In the tradition of that work, editor in chief Kermit L. Hall offers up The Oxford Companion to American Law, a one-volume, A-Z encyclopedia that covers topics ranging from aging and the law, wiretapping and electronic eavesdropping, the Salem Witch Trials and Plessy vs. Ferguson. The Companion takes as its starting point the insight that law is embedded in society, and that to understand American law one must necessarily ask questions about the relationship between it and the social order, now and in the past. The volume assumes that American law, in all its richness and complexity, cannot be understood in isolation, as simply the business of the Supreme Court, or as a list of common law doctrines. Hence, the volume takes seriously issues involving laws role in structuring decisions about governance, the significance of state and local law and legal institutions, and the place of American law in a comparative international perspective. Nearly 500 entries are included, written by over 300 expert contributors. Intended for the working lawyer or judge, the high school student working on a term paper, or the general adult reader interested in the topic, the Companion is the authoritative reference work on the subject of American law.

Loony Laws: That You Never Knew You Were Breaking

Robert Wayne Pelton

Amazon Price: $8.95 List Price: $8.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Walker & Company Amazon Marketplace: 28 new & used starting at $3.28

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Loony Laws 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Funny and quite amazing that they still have all these crazy laws in the books in some states. One is that you can't kiss a man with a mustache in public. I keep my on the coffee table and it is quite a conversation piece when guests come and start reading the laws aloud.

Dictionary of Legal terms

Steven H. Gifis

List Price: $8.99 By: Barron's Educational Series Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $0.73

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Legal Terms Defined in Everyday Language 5 out of 5 stars.
22 of 22 people found this review helpful.

This book defines legal terms in easily understood English. In some cases, it gives an example of a situation to which the legal term might apply in order to help illustrate the meaning. It would be a very useful addition to anyone's reference library.

Good enough for me 4 out of 5 stars.
20 of 20 people found this review helpful.

Barron's "Dictionary of Legal Terms" is a solid text. When I asked a law friend of mine which law dictionary I should purchase he told me that "Black's" was the best law dictionary out there. However, it is rather expensive at eighty or so dollars. Even the pocket version of the text is at least twenty dollars. So I sprang for this law dictionary at about eight dollars.

I was quite impressed and quite educated by the Barron's work. It was informative and complete, yet simple enough for a non-law student to understand. At my local bookstore I compared the Barron's dictionary with some others and found this one more to my liking because it provides examples for certain definitions; something the other texts did not.

The only reason that I did not give this 5 stars is that it is not as complete as some of the other books that I looked at. This version has "more than 2500 legal terms" and the other books were all about 3000. However, I have not yet come across a word or jargon that I was unable to find in this book so I am not sure what the other 500+ words or phrases are.

Solid book. Highly recommended.

Editorial Review:

This updated edition of a popular quick reference source presents more than 2,000 legal terms defined and explained clearly and concisely in plain English. The author, an experienced lawyer and former law professor, cuts through legalese jargon allowing readers to understand documents important to them. Terms are arranged alphabetically, and the Appendix serves as a consumer's guide to law and lawyers.