Legal Resources
You may find some of these additional resources helpful.
From Inspiration to Legislation: How an Idea Becomes a Bill
Providing an inside view of policy initiation and policy making, this book, written by a former Congressional staff member, offers readers a first-hand account of policy formation from preliminary research to coalition-building, writing the bill, and working with committees to move the bill to the floor. A straightforward, engaging presentation follows the Safe Havens Support Act from the initial idea that inspired the bill, through its crafting and eventual passage as part of larger social services bills—and examines the ground-level challenges of a new member of congress developing a legislative agenda. For individuals who want to see how Republicans and Democrats can work together, and how a policy idea becomes a legislative reality.
Quick Reference Guide for Legal Writing
This won't make you a legal scholar, but will help you organize your ordinance proposal in a more legal format. The one for "Legal Research" is also an excellent quick reference.
Basic Legal Research: Tools and Strategies, Fifth Edition (Aspen Coursebook) Paperback
This best-selling coursebook on legal research is known for its clear, step-by-step instruction in the basics. Using a building-block approach, the text breaks material into discrete, readily comprehensible parts. Self-contained chapters on sources make the book flexible for any type of legal research course. Useful pedagogy throughout the text includes end-of-chapter checklists, clear examples, and summary charts. Helpful sample pages and examples of research sources guide students through the presentation, and an accompanying workbook provides exercises to test comprehension.
The Fifth Edition provides thoroughly updated coverage of the research platforms such as WestlawNext, Lexis Advance, and Google Scholar, including the most current information about their features and use. All sample pages and screen shots have been updated.
Features:
The Fifth Edition provides thoroughly updated coverage of the research platforms such as WestlawNext, Lexis Advance, and Google Scholar, including the most current information about their features and use. All sample pages and screen shots have been updated.
Features:
- Accessible, clear, step-by-step instruction on the basics of legal research
- Building-block approach
- breaks material into discrete and comprehensible parts
- Self-contained chapters on research sources
- flexible for any type of legal research course
- Useful pedagogy
- end-of-chapter checklists
- clear examples
- summary charts
- Helpful sample pages and examples of research sources
- Accompanying workbook with exercises
- Fresh coverage, most current information about features and use of research platforms, including
- WestlawNext
- Lexis Advance
- Google Scholar
- All sample pages and screen shots updated
Legal Writing in Plain English, Second Edition: A Text with Exercises (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) Paperback
Admirably clear, concise, down-to-earth, and powerful—all too often, legal writing embodies none of these qualities. Its reputation for obscurity and needless legalese is widespread. Since 2001 Bryan A. Garner’s Legal Writing in Plain English has helped address this problem by providing lawyers, judges, paralegals, law students, and legal scholars with sound advice and practical tools for improving their written work. Now the leading guide to clear writing in the field, this indispensable volume encourages legal writers to challenge conventions and offers valuable insights into the writing process that will appeal to other professionals: how to organize ideas, create and refine prose, and improve editing skills.
Accessible and witty, Legal Writing in Plain English draws on real-life writing samples that Garner has gathered through decades of teaching experience. Trenchant advice covers all types of legal materials, from analytical and persuasive writing to legal drafting, and the book’s principles are reinforced by sets of basic, intermediate, and advanced exercises in each section.
In this new edition, Garner preserves the successful structure of the original while adjusting the content to make it even more classroom-friendly. He includes case examples from the past decade and addresses the widespread use of legal documents in electronic formats. His book remains the standard guide for producing the jargon-free language that clients demand and courts reward.
Accessible and witty, Legal Writing in Plain English draws on real-life writing samples that Garner has gathered through decades of teaching experience. Trenchant advice covers all types of legal materials, from analytical and persuasive writing to legal drafting, and the book’s principles are reinforced by sets of basic, intermediate, and advanced exercises in each section.
In this new edition, Garner preserves the successful structure of the original while adjusting the content to make it even more classroom-friendly. He includes case examples from the past decade and addresses the widespread use of legal documents in electronic formats. His book remains the standard guide for producing the jargon-free language that clients demand and courts reward.
Plain English for Lawyers
Wydick s Plain English for Lawyers--now in its fifth edition--has been a favorite of law students, legal writing teachers, lawyers, and judges for over 25 years.
In January 2005, the Legal Writing Institute gave Wydick its Golden Pen Award for having written Plain English for Lawyers. The Legal Writing Institute is a non-profit organization that provides a forum for discussion and scholarship about legal writing, analysis, and research. The Institute has over 1,300 members representing all of the ABA-accredited law schools in the United States. Its membership also includes law teachers from other nations, English teachers, and practicing lawyers.
The LWI award states: 'Plain English for Lawyers . . . has become a classic. Perhaps no single work has done more to improve the writing of lawyers and law students and to promote the modern trend toward a clear, plain style of legal writing.'
In 2003 Wydick retired after 32 years on the law faculty of the University of California, Davis. But he still teaches his favorite course -- a seminar in advanced legal writing for third-year law students. For the past eight summers he has also lectured at the International Legislative Drafting Institute presented in New Orleans by the Public Law Center, a joint venture of Tulane and Loyola law schools. There the audience consists of lawyers and non-lawyers from abroad who earn their living drafting legislation in many different languages. 'Teaching at the Institute,' Wydick says, 'is a precious opportunity to learn how much we English-users have in common with people who write laws in other languages.'
How does the fifth edition of Plain English for Lawyers differ from its predecessors? It remains (in size only!) a little book, small enough and palatable enough not to intimidate over-loaded law students. 'Most of the text remains the same,' Wydick says, 'but in the past seven years I ve learned some new things about writing in English, and I want to share that with the readers.' In addition, the exercises at the end of the chapters are different (a welcome change for long-time teachers who are tired of the old ones). Finally, the teacher's manual includes additional exercises that teachers can give to students who want or need extra practice.
In January 2005, the Legal Writing Institute gave Wydick its Golden Pen Award for having written Plain English for Lawyers. The Legal Writing Institute is a non-profit organization that provides a forum for discussion and scholarship about legal writing, analysis, and research. The Institute has over 1,300 members representing all of the ABA-accredited law schools in the United States. Its membership also includes law teachers from other nations, English teachers, and practicing lawyers.
The LWI award states: 'Plain English for Lawyers . . . has become a classic. Perhaps no single work has done more to improve the writing of lawyers and law students and to promote the modern trend toward a clear, plain style of legal writing.'
In 2003 Wydick retired after 32 years on the law faculty of the University of California, Davis. But he still teaches his favorite course -- a seminar in advanced legal writing for third-year law students. For the past eight summers he has also lectured at the International Legislative Drafting Institute presented in New Orleans by the Public Law Center, a joint venture of Tulane and Loyola law schools. There the audience consists of lawyers and non-lawyers from abroad who earn their living drafting legislation in many different languages. 'Teaching at the Institute,' Wydick says, 'is a precious opportunity to learn how much we English-users have in common with people who write laws in other languages.'
How does the fifth edition of Plain English for Lawyers differ from its predecessors? It remains (in size only!) a little book, small enough and palatable enough not to intimidate over-loaded law students. 'Most of the text remains the same,' Wydick says, 'but in the past seven years I ve learned some new things about writing in English, and I want to share that with the readers.' In addition, the exercises at the end of the chapters are different (a welcome change for long-time teachers who are tired of the old ones). Finally, the teacher's manual includes additional exercises that teachers can give to students who want or need extra practice.
Plain English for Drafting Statutes and Rules
For the third time, Professor Robert Martineau, now joined by his son Robert J. Martineau, Jr., as co-author, has prepared a guide for drafting a statute or rule in Plain English. It is now more important than ever for those who draft statutes and rules to be able to make them as readable and understandable as possible.
The book begins with a history of the Plain English movement. The text describes the process by which rules and statutes are drafted and passed at the federal, state and local level. There are chapters on rules governing the structure of a bill or regulation.
The authors then present specific rules of good drafting, with a variety of examples.
The Teacher's Manual for Plain English for Drafting Statutes and Rules contains a series of poor drafting examples of each type of drafting error to be given to students to improve. The Manual then contains the authors' approach to improving each example.
The book begins with a history of the Plain English movement. The text describes the process by which rules and statutes are drafted and passed at the federal, state and local level. There are chapters on rules governing the structure of a bill or regulation.
The authors then present specific rules of good drafting, with a variety of examples.
The Teacher's Manual for Plain English for Drafting Statutes and Rules contains a series of poor drafting examples of each type of drafting error to be given to students to improve. The Manual then contains the authors' approach to improving each example.
Legislative Drafting for Democratic Social Change: A Manual for Drafters
Good governance, that is, effective government based on non-arbitrary decision-making, is central to a country's successful development or transition to a market-oriented economy. This Manual aims to equip legislative drafters with the conceptual tools and specific techniques they need to draft laws likely to bring about the institutional transformation necessary for good governance.Designed as a practical aid for practitioners in the developing and transitional worlds, this unique work demonstrates how, within constitutional and other limits, a drafter should structure a bill, provides instruction in drafting amendments and subordinate legislation, and describes the skills required to write the clear, unambiguous and readily-interpreted provisions required to achieve a bill's policy objectives.
It provides a model for a research report that, based on facts and logic, will justify the bill's detailed provisions and demonstrate that the responsible agency will implement them effectively.
The final section focuses on drafting laws to facilitate government decision-making in accordance with the rule of law. In particular, it suggests devices for drafting defensively against corruption, thus providing the legislative environment essential for successful transition and development.
It provides a model for a research report that, based on facts and logic, will justify the bill's detailed provisions and demonstrate that the responsible agency will implement them effectively.
The final section focuses on drafting laws to facilitate government decision-making in accordance with the rule of law. In particular, it suggests devices for drafting defensively against corruption, thus providing the legislative environment essential for successful transition and development.
Basic Legal Drafting: Litigation Documents, Contracts, Legislative Documents
BASIC LEGAL DRAFTING offers down-to-earth instruction on how to draft well-organized and clearly articulated legal documents. A culmination of twenty-five years of teaching in the highly regarded Legal Drafting Program at the University of Florida College of Law, the book is designed to be used as a resource for law students and practicing attorneys, as well as a textbook for drafting classes. The text is particularly strong in its discussions of how to organize a document, often the most difficult task facing a drafter and typically under-addressed in other drafting manuals. Equally useful are the very concrete recommendations on how to articulate the language of a document in order to achieve clarity and precision. The text helpfully distinguishes traditional drafting principles from common conventions and stylistic preferences. The litigation chapter addresses complaints, answers and motions. Useful examples range from a simple negligence complaint to a complex statutory-based multi-count complaint and appropriate responses. The contracts chapter includes an extensive discussion, with examples, on how to create for any contract a logical, coherent framework that underlines the drafter’s (and presumably the client’s) intentions. The chapter addresses in detail the articulation of particular provisions, including definitions, termination and exculpatory provisions. Its comprehensive discussion of how to recognize and avoid various types of ambiguity will prove useful beyond the contract drafting context. The legislation chapter identifies common legislative protocols and applies, within those protocols, many of the organization and articulation principles set out in the contracts chapter. While the text uses litigation documents, contracts and legislation as the bases for its discussions, Basic Legal Drafting offers practical, realistic advice and instructions that will be useful to the drafter of any type of legal document.
Writing for Law Practice: Advanced Legal Writing (University Casebook Series)
Writing for Law Practice organizes documents into three sections that correspond to the three major modes of written communication in the law–“Litigating,” “Informing and Persuading,” and “Rule-making” – each with its own signature writing skills.
The organization of this text is both realistic and helpful to student and teacher. Part One focuses on pleadings and motions, where concept is primary and expression secondary. Part Two covers letters, memos, trial and appellate briefs, and judicial opinions, which require clarity and perseverance as well as creativity. Part Three covers contracts, legislation, and wills, where conceptualization is inextricable from clear and precise expression. Among the advantages of this organization is that it gives the teacher much flexibility in course design.
New features of the second edition include a skills chapter on effective Document Design and its role in reader comprehension; a section in Contracts on negotiation that aims to provide broader context for transactional drafting; expanded discussions of tone and narrative in the Pleadings and Persuasion chapters; expanded coverage of e-mail communication; a section on living wills and health care proxies in the Wills chapter; and new exercises and assignments throughout.
Writing for Law Practice is intended for both “Advanced Writing” and “Introduction to Drafting” courses. Because “drafting” is a term without a single, universally agreed-upon meaning, “drafting” courses do not all cover the same documents. However, this text treats a broad range of documents and a broad range of skills, and so it is suitable for all of these upper-level writing courses.
The organization of this text is both realistic and helpful to student and teacher. Part One focuses on pleadings and motions, where concept is primary and expression secondary. Part Two covers letters, memos, trial and appellate briefs, and judicial opinions, which require clarity and perseverance as well as creativity. Part Three covers contracts, legislation, and wills, where conceptualization is inextricable from clear and precise expression. Among the advantages of this organization is that it gives the teacher much flexibility in course design.
New features of the second edition include a skills chapter on effective Document Design and its role in reader comprehension; a section in Contracts on negotiation that aims to provide broader context for transactional drafting; expanded discussions of tone and narrative in the Pleadings and Persuasion chapters; expanded coverage of e-mail communication; a section on living wills and health care proxies in the Wills chapter; and new exercises and assignments throughout.
Writing for Law Practice is intended for both “Advanced Writing” and “Introduction to Drafting” courses. Because “drafting” is a term without a single, universally agreed-upon meaning, “drafting” courses do not all cover the same documents. However, this text treats a broad range of documents and a broad range of skills, and so it is suitable for all of these upper-level writing courses.
Legal Research 15th (fifteenth) edition Text Only
Legal research made simple!
If you're searching for information in a real or virtual law library as a paralegal, law student, legal assistant, journalist, or lay person, finding and accessing the laws that you need to read can be a challenge. Turn to Legal Research, which outlines a systematic method to find answers and get results.
In plain, readable English, Attorney Stephen Elias explains, with plenty of examples and instructions, how to:
. read and understand statues, regulations and cases
. evaluate cases for their value as precedent
. use all the basic tools of legal research
. practice what you've learned with "hands-on, library exercises, as well as hypothetical research problems and solutions
This easy-to-use and understand book has been adopted as a text in many law schools and paralegal programs. This edition has been condensed to be more readable and includes an expanded discussion on the use of new legal research tools on the web.
If you're searching for information in a real or virtual law library as a paralegal, law student, legal assistant, journalist, or lay person, finding and accessing the laws that you need to read can be a challenge. Turn to Legal Research, which outlines a systematic method to find answers and get results.
In plain, readable English, Attorney Stephen Elias explains, with plenty of examples and instructions, how to:
. read and understand statues, regulations and cases
. evaluate cases for their value as precedent
. use all the basic tools of legal research
. practice what you've learned with "hands-on, library exercises, as well as hypothetical research problems and solutions
This easy-to-use and understand book has been adopted as a text in many law schools and paralegal programs. This edition has been condensed to be more readable and includes an expanded discussion on the use of new legal research tools on the web.
Law 101: Everything You Need to Know About the American Legal System
Most of us know very little about the law. We pick up bits of information from television and newspaper accounts of current legal battles, and from bestselling novels and popular movies. But these pieces do not give us an accurate or complete picture.
In Law 101, Jay M. Feinman offers a delightfully clear introduction to law, covering the main subjects found in the first year of law school and giving us a basic understanding of the American legal tradition. Readers are introduced to every aspect of the legal system, from constitutional law and the litigation process to tort law, contract law, property law, and criminal law. Feinman illuminates each discussion with many intriguing, outrageous, and infamous cases, from the scalding coffee case that cost McDonald's half a million dollars, to the sensational murder trial in Victorian London that led to the legal definition of insanity, to the epochal decision in Marbury v. Madison that gave the Supreme Court the power to declare state and federal laws unconstitutional. He broadens the reader's legal vocabulary, clarifying the meaning of everything from "due process" and "equal protection" in constitutional law, to the distinction between "murder" and "manslaughter" in criminal law. Perhaps most important, we learn that law is voluminous and complex, but accessible to everyone.
Anyone who enjoys Court TV will find this book irresistible. Everyone who wants a better grasp of current legal issues, from students contemplating law school to journalists covering the legislature or the courts, will find here a wonderful source of information--a complete, clear, and colorful map of the American legal system.
In Law 101, Jay M. Feinman offers a delightfully clear introduction to law, covering the main subjects found in the first year of law school and giving us a basic understanding of the American legal tradition. Readers are introduced to every aspect of the legal system, from constitutional law and the litigation process to tort law, contract law, property law, and criminal law. Feinman illuminates each discussion with many intriguing, outrageous, and infamous cases, from the scalding coffee case that cost McDonald's half a million dollars, to the sensational murder trial in Victorian London that led to the legal definition of insanity, to the epochal decision in Marbury v. Madison that gave the Supreme Court the power to declare state and federal laws unconstitutional. He broadens the reader's legal vocabulary, clarifying the meaning of everything from "due process" and "equal protection" in constitutional law, to the distinction between "murder" and "manslaughter" in criminal law. Perhaps most important, we learn that law is voluminous and complex, but accessible to everyone.
Anyone who enjoys Court TV will find this book irresistible. Everyone who wants a better grasp of current legal issues, from students contemplating law school to journalists covering the legislature or the courts, will find here a wonderful source of information--a complete, clear, and colorful map of the American legal system.
Herb Cohen believes the world is a giant negotiating table and, like it or not, you're a negotiator. Whether you're dealing with your spouse, boss, department store, bank manager, children, solicitor, or best friend - in every encounter with other people, negotiating is always taking place. And how well you handle those encounters determines whether you prosper happily or suffer frustration and loss. With his helpful and sensible approach Cohen shows that negotiating is a process you can understand and predict - and most importantly, that it's a practical skill you can learn and improve upon.
Since its original publication nearly thirty years ago, Getting to Yes has helped millions of people learn a better way to negotiate. One of the primary business texts of the modern era, it is based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, a group that deals with all levels of negotiation and conflict resolution. Getting to Yes offers a proven, step-by-step strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict. Thoroughly updated and revised, it offers readers a straight-forward, universally applicable method for negotiating personal and professional disputes without getting angry-or getting taken.