A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage

by Bryan A. Garner

Book Overview

The need for clarity and precision in legal writing has become increasingly apparent in recent years. Until this award-winning book appeared, the unwieldy body of legal language had not been collected or scrutinized in any systematic way.
Far more than a typical law dictionary, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage is the first and only comprehensive guide to style and usage for the legal writer. Bryan A. Garner, an editor, academic, and practicing...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195065786
• ISBN13: 9780195065787
• Release Date: November 1990
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 616 Pages
• Weight: 2.09 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The Best

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.

Can't Live Without It

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.

An essential companion

A J.D., admission to the bar, and this book should be the three requirements for any individual to practice law. The title, "A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage," is absolutely appropriate in that this book does not merely serve as an alternative to Black's to find the definition of a word or phrase. Rather, the book's emphasis is on appropriate usage. It is an enjoyable enough read that one might end up reading it from cover to cover if one isn't careful. I recommend it highly.

The indispensable authority.

If you have a question about a legal word or about legal writing, look it up here. You'll find the answer, and you're also likely to find a lively and intelligent discussion on the point. But the best thing about DMLU2 is that it's correct. So use it for back-up when you need to be right. Every lawyer should have it.

A reference that every lawyer should own -- and use.

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.