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Review
"Even law libraries that already own the first edition should benefit from Garner's new edition."--Law Library Journal
"Assiduous use of the newly revised Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage will improve mediocre legal writing and enhance good documents. Libraries that serve the legal community and people who read what lawyers write should add this work to their reference collections."--RQ
"The first edition of this book has been praised around the world as both the most reliable guide to legal usage and the most fascinating to read. The second edition outdoes even its predecessor, with more depth, more illustrative quotations, and more proof of Garner's lively literary style. He has surely established himself as the world's leading authority on the language of the law."--Charles Alan Wright
"The well-received Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage has been updated in this superior second edition....Even libraries that have the first edition should consider this new one, w
Product Description
With double the length and coverage of the original, this new edition of A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage marshals and analyzesthe modern legal vocabulary more thoroughly than any other contemporary reference work can claim to do. Since the 1987 first edition, Bryan A. Garner has drawn on his unrivaled experience as a legal editor to refine his positions on legal usage and to add a wealth of new material. Here's how Garner's revision makes DMLU, Second Edition indispensable: - Updates every existing entry, making this a second edition in the fullest sense - adds hundreds of new entries - adds hundreds of new sections within existing entries - adds over 3,000 new illustrative quotations from judicial opinions and leading lawbooks by prominent legal commentators - Reconsiders previously held positions, now saying, for example, that contractions are sometimes permissible in legal writing - Fully elaborates ideas only hinted at in the first edition - Takes into account numerous comments received from first edition users - Expands and updates cross-references to guide readers quickly and easily Features Functions both as a style guide and as a law dictionary Guides writers to distinguish between true terms of law and mere jargon Illustrates recommended forms of expression as well as common blunders with thousands of quotations and citations Explains the origins of expressions lawyers regularly use, such as "Know all men by these presents", or "party of the first part" Records and evaluates more than 100 twentieth-century neologisms, from "conclusory" to "farminor" Distinguishes American from British usage and refers to current practice among Australian, Canadian, and Scottish legal writers Solves editorial problems by dealing with practical writing issues Offers wit and erudition reminiscent of H.W. Fowler, author of the first so-called usage dictionary In short, in its Second Edition, DMLU remains, as one reviewer hailed it in 1987, "truly unique in the literature of law". It is an essential resource for practising lawyers, scholars of the law, and libraries of all sizes and types.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
THIRD EDITION
An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers
It is ironic, is it not, that `legal language' quite often seems opaque and all too often is so; unfortunate too, as the law is based on words, forms of words, meanings of words and their interpretation, connotation and usage. One wonders how often cases have been initiated, then won or lost because someone or other has misconstrued or misinterpreted some word or other - or some phrase or other.
If you're a lawyer, legal scholar, student, or generally someone who is fascinated by the power of language and who seeks to speak and write with clarity, precision and force, Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage is the resource for you. Here it is from the Oxford University Press in a new enlarged and updated third edition and a remarkable work of lexicography it is.
But it's not just a dictionary. It also functions as an authoritative guide to style, grammar and usage. As you look up each word, you are offered not just a definition, but a discussion of its significance, its origins, indeed all its aspects pertaining to law, complete with meticulously cited sources.
Prolifically and painstakingly (and often entertainingly) the learned editor, Bryan A Garner, internationally acknowledged as a top authority on legal usage, seeks to blow away the cobwebs of complexity and confusion which may surround any number of terms.
`Testatorial, testorial, testatory' is an example. What's the difference? What is the most common form? Is there a reference to the OED? Look these up if you wish to know. You'll find them just before the word `testatrix', which the editor quite rightly has a down on. `This word is useless,' he growls. `testator quite properly referring to men and women alike. See SEXISM.' Well - you've been told, haven't you? And you have been referred onward toward further research as well.
It's a comprehensive, erudite and easy to use resource which lawyers and laymen alike will find invaluable. Synonyms, for example, are precisely differentiated and defined and such areas of law as immigration, intellectual property are discussed in the clear light of day. Ooops... we shouldn't have said that! Garner and his team have provided a pungent entry on the matter of clichés and overused words which ideally we must avoid, although some of our pet hates have been left out like `iconic' and `going forward.' These will no doubt surface in the next edition!
Usefully, the orientation of this dictionary (of almost 1,000 pages) is transatlantic. So whether your practice is in the UK or North America, this is certainly an indispensable guide to writing or editing legal documents, books or articles with enhanced clarity, accuracy and style. The publication date is July 2011.
An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers
It is ironic, is it not, that `legal language' quite often seems opaque and all too often is so; unfortunate too, as the law is based on words, forms of words, meanings of words and their interpretation, connotation and usage. One wonders how often cases have been initiated, then won or lost because someone or other has misconstrued or misinterpreted some word or other - or some phrase or other.
If you're a lawyer, legal scholar, student, or generally someone who is fascinated by the power of language and who seeks to speak and write with clarity, precision and force, Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage is the resource for you. Here it is from the Oxford University Press in a new enlarged and updated third edition and a remarkable work of lexicography it is.
But it's not just a dictionary. It also functions as an authoritative guide to style, grammar and usage. As you look up each word, you are offered not just a definition, but a discussion of its significance, its origins, indeed all its aspects pertaining to law, complete with meticulously cited sources.
Prolifically and painstakingly (and often entertainingly) the learned editor, Bryan A Garner, internationally acknowledged as a top authority on legal usage, seeks to blow away the cobwebs of complexity and confusion which may surround any number of terms.
`Testatorial, testorial, testatory' is an example. What's the difference? What is the most common form? Is there a reference to the OED? Look these up if you wish to know. You'll find them just before the word `testatrix', which the editor quite rightly has a down on. `This word is useless,' he growls. `testator quite properly referring to men and women alike. See SEXISM.' Well - you've been told, haven't you? And you have been referred onward toward further research as well.
It's a comprehensive, erudite and easy to use resource which lawyers and laymen alike will find invaluable. Synonyms, for example, are precisely differentiated and defined and such areas of law as immigration, intellectual property are discussed in the clear light of day. Ooops... we shouldn't have said that! Garner and his team have provided a pungent entry on the matter of clichés and overused words which ideally we must avoid, although some of our pet hates have been left out like `iconic' and `going forward.' These will no doubt surface in the next edition!
Usefully, the orientation of this dictionary (of almost 1,000 pages) is transatlantic. So whether your practice is in the UK or North America, this is certainly an indispensable guide to writing or editing legal documents, books or articles with enhanced clarity, accuracy and style. The publication date is July 2011.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The essential guide to proper usage of legal terms and terms in legal writing. The several essays in the book are essential. Most important of all, the DMLU is entaintaining.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
15 reviews
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Can't Live Without It
7 Sep 2003
Format:Paperback
As an editor of legal newsletters, I do not know what I would do without this absolutely necessary tool of the trade. Not only do I, a non-attorney, find it indispensible, but my colleagues who are members of the Bar are constantly borrowing my copy "just to check." And whatever they, or I, am checking--it's in there.
Garner has a way of condensing solid and often very intricate information into a few paragraphs so succinct, and so informative, that anyone can understand. When one is rushing against a deadline, editing for and about attorneys and the law, reaching for Garner often makes the difference.
I would give up my dictionary before I would part with this book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Garner has earned his place in the annals of legal writing and editing, and I hold him--and this book--in the highest esteem.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
A reference that every lawyer should own -- and use.
21 Aug 2001
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Garner should be carried shoulder-high for this work. Much expanded beyond the first edition, it provides intelligent, informed guidance on both individual terms and general topics. What does it really mean to "beg the question"? Is "struck" preferable to "stricken"? What's the plural of "cestui que trust"? Garner does not simply give thumbs up or down; he explains the pros and cons of various usages, with an outlook that is literate and, above all, practical. Time after time I find that he has anticipated my questions and has answered them with just the right level of detail.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
The Best
15 Jun 2005
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is, by far, the single best resource on legal usage one can buy. I never cease to be amazed at how often I pull this book off of my shelf to find it giving me a clear and accurate answer to a usage question. I purchased this book several years ago after attending one of Garner's legal writing seminars. That seminar and this book have dramatically improved my legal writing skills. Those two tools positively influence my writing every single day. If you follow Garner's advice and guidance, you will eliminate deadening and condescending legalese from your legal writing and replace it with clear and concise prose. My clients appreciate receiving contracts that are actually readable and my contracts are less frequently subject to alternative interpretations because ambiguities are largely eliminated. As a lawyer or paralegal, do yourself a favor and buy this book. Better yet, buy this book and take Garner's Advanced Legal Drafting seminar. You won't regret it.
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