Law Dictionary: Fifth Edition (Law Dictionary),   ISBN:9780764119965

Customer Rating: 

I thought this would be such a good reference book to have on hand, especially studying to be a paralegal, and it did have some good reviews, from what I remember....... or I wouldn't have gotten it. And I liked the fact it was small, thick, soft-material-type paperback (I love those kind!); ya know, an easy, quick-reference type book - perfect for studying, right? Well, wrong. This is the 4th edition, Copyright 1996. Maybe that's why. But I thought, gosh, surely it's got tons of legal words for studying paralegal. Man, nearly 1 out of every 2 words I look up are not in this book. That's 5o%; and sometimes 2 out of 2. It claims to have More Than 3,000 - so I'm thinkin.......ok, that oughtta be suffish. NO. The deal is this: this book fails miserably in what I got it for - to help me study and to have a Quick REF on hand to be able to look up words (again, quickly is the key here), learn what they mean, and not have to fiddle-fudge around checking out 3 or 4 books just to get a DEFINITION! I hate wasting time, and having to go through more steps to accomplish something simple. Maybe if I found the latest edition with 5k or more words, then I wouldn't be so disappointed. I adore the style of this paperback - and to me that's important because it has good usability, the solid black, soft/thick paperback & gold-stamped lettering, the pages are not really thick, and it just "feels good"; something I like when I have to deal with a lot of page turning and book opening! I didn't want to dislike this book, but it just doesn't have a lot of the words I search for! A 'good' legal reference would be great to have on a Kindle! Gosh, wish I could afford one of those; I'd be elated!

Customer Rating: 

Should you have any interest in the law -- and who among us does not? -- this handy
book is an absolute must. It is smaller, and therefore less comprehensive, than the
Black's Law Dictionary, but for that reason it is easier to use and carry with you.
There are, I found, few topics left uncovered -- most of them in U.S. Constitional Law --
but in all other areas the book is extremely valuable.

Customer Rating: 

Required book for my Paralegal course. Nothing wrong with the book or what is contained in it, but only beef is the size. I noticed that many of my fellow students had a Barron's law dictionary that was a third of the size and nicely bound. I should have looked further into law dictionaries before buying this one, as too big and clumsy.

Customer Rating: 

I am very happy with my law dictionary it was in great condition and very useful for my law class!

Customer Rating: 

There is not much that can be said for dictionaries except how much they help you. Whether you are a lawyer or layman, this is a valuable reference to those confusing legal terms you may periodical see on contracts, in the news, on warranties and other places.

Black has been around for a long time and is the most concise of all the dictionaries I have seen. Pick it up and you wont regret it.