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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #176404 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 980 pages

Review
From reviews of the first edition: 'Garner has gathered together material which will prove helpful to lawyers and non-lawyers alike.' Times Literary Supplement

About the Author
Bryan A. Garner, both as a practising lawyer and as an academic, has written widely on the English language and legal style. He has taught at the University of Texas School of Law and at the Southern Methodist University School of Law. Now president at Law Prose, Inc., Garner conducts writing and drafting seminars for several thousand American lawyers and judges each year. He frequently serves as a consultant on legal writing projects and as an expert witness in matters of
contractual and statutory interpretation. His other books include The Elements of Legal Style (OUP, 1991) and a forthcoming pocket edition of Black's Law Dictionary. He is the editor-in-chief of The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing.

Customer Reviews

The Bible of Legal Usage
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.