Dictionary of Legal Terms

Barron's "Dictionary of Legal Terms" is a solid text. When I asked a law friend of mine which law dictionary I should purchase he told me that "Black's" was the best law dictionary out there. However, it is rather expensive at eighty or so dollars. Even the pocket version of the text is at least twenty dollars. So I sprang for this law dictionary at about eight dollars.

I was quite impressed and quite educated by the Barron's work. It was informative and complete, yet simple enough for a non-law student to understand. At my local bookstore I compared the Barron's dictionary with some others and found this one more to my liking because it provides examples for certain definitions; something the other texts did not.

The only reason that I did not give this 5 stars is that it is not as complete as some of the other books that I looked at. This version has "more than 2500 legal terms" and the other books were all about 3000. However, I have not yet come across a word or jargon that I was unable to find in this book so I am not sure what the other 500+ words or phrases are.

Solid book. Highly recommended.

Legal terms presented in a way that can be understood by all. Very helpful information in section-"KEY TO EFFECTIVE USE OF THIS DICTIONARY"

I bought this dictionary 4 years ago and since then it has been invaluable to me in getting through law school and the bar exam. My copy is so tattered and worn out, I'm thinking of buying a new one to replace it. I highly recommend it over Black's and others that have traditionally been regarded essential for law students and lawyers. Too often with the other legal dictionaries, you look up a word, and then to understand the given definition you end up having to look up additional words. Not so with this book--it lays out legal definitions in the most simple and straightforward manner possible. For many terms, it even gives short hypotheticals to illustrate the term in its proper context.

Even though it's titled "For Non-Lawyers" I highly recommend this book to law students, lawyers, paralegals, and anyone else who might appreciate legal jargon explained in an easily understandable way.

This dictionary may be good for the layman, but it is far too general for a law student or lawyer. Only the most common legal words are included, so most of the words are familiar to lawyers. Those words that are obscure enough to require a dictionary are not included. I would recommend this dictionary to a layman who wants to understand simple legal terms, but not to a lawyer or law student.

This book defines legal terms in easily understood English. In some cases, it gives an example of a situation to which the legal term might apply in order to help illustrate the meaning. It would be a very useful addition to anyone's reference library.