Reviews (1)

Fundamentals of Legal Research
Fundamentals of Legal Research is one of those gems of books on subjects that can be rather technical. It is clear and basic enough to be of real use to the novice, and comprehensive enough to serve as a good review foreven the veteran legal researcher.The book describes sources of the law,case reporters, digests, and legal encyclopedias and provides the readerwith the basics steps for doing legal research, along with tips on doingresearch in the areas of English law, federal taxes, international law,etc. It also provides aids on computer-assisted research, legal citations,Shephard's, and other services.It is well-written and easy to understandbut does not talk down (or "up") to the reader.Read more

Subjects:  1. Law    2. Research    3. Research methods: general   

Editorial Review

In the case of Read more

Reviews (9)

Short And Sweet, But Not The Best
Stark takes on the whole legal writing proces in a breezy style.Stark was a litigator once, and it shows.But that was years ago, and I think you can tell.In contrast, I liked Bryan Garner's "The Winning Brief" a lot more, in part because Garner gives real-world examples of what to do and what not to do.Stark tells more than shows. As a litigator myself, I find it more useful if an author shows me an example of what not to do and how to correct it.I gave it three stars.
Great book, very informative.
I am pleasantly surprised by the readability of this useful book.The book kept my attention, and it was very helpful and informative.

Simple rules to live by
This book is a great tool for the over-verbose legalese writer, as well as the novice who needs to know how to LOOK as if they know what they're doing.It knocks legal writing down to the basics (face it - if you haven't got a valid case, no amount of purple prose is going to save it.)It also clearly defines the parameters of specialized legal writing (pleadings, writs, etc.) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Nonfiction    3. English Composition    4. Law    5. Legal Reference / Law Profession    6. Legal Research    7. Legal Writing    8. Legal composition    9. Reference    10. Writing Skills    11. Reference / Writing Skills   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Law    3. Legal Research    4. Reference    5. Research    6. Reference / General   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. General    4. Handbooks, manuals, etc    5. Legal Profession    6. Legal Reference / Law Profession    7. Legal Research    8. Legal assistants    9. Paralegal Services    10. Paralegals & Paralegalism    11. Research    12. United States    13. Business & Economics / General    14. Legal skills & practice   

Reviews (1)

Practical, Helpful & Easy to Read
I've used this book for the past few months and have been pleasantly surprised by how well it is organized, and how easy it is to understand. The author writes in a clear, straightforward manner and covers all of the pertinant topics. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Law    2. Legal Reference / Law Profession    3. Legal Writing    4. Legal research    5. Research    6. United States   

Reviews (2)

This Should Definately Be On Your Law School Reading List
I think Kaplan's Law School Admissions Adviser: The Expert Advice You Need to Get Into the Law School You Want is an excellent general overview of the entire admissions process. If you are just starting your research or initially contemplating law school, I highly recommend you read this book.
Useful guide to law school admittance
I thought this was an extremely helpful guide during my law school admissions process. I received quite a few tips on narrowing down my selections, essays and other factors involved in the process. In the end it's GPA and LSAT that matter most, but this guide will definitely give you a bit of an edge. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Admission    2. General    3. Graduate School Guides - Law    4. LSAT (Law School Admission Test)    5. Law (General)    6. Law schools    7. Reference    8. Research    9. Study Aids    10. United States    11. Study Aids / Graduate School Guides   

Reviews (1)

Phenomenal
I may not be the most unbiased reviewer (I want to UNC Law and know Ruth well) but this is one of the best, if not THE best, book to help law students get through their first days of law school. I use the book myself (I also teach law) and it has the best skill-building exercises I have used.As a legal writing collegue of mine said, "Ruth should walk around with a tiara all day--she really is the queen of legal writing!"
Read more

Subjects:  1. Handbooks, manuals, etc    2. Law    3. Law students    4. Legal Education    5. Legal Reference / Law Profession    6. Reading comprehension    7. Research    8. Study and teaching    9. United States   

Reviews (3)

Sure fire guide to the legal research and writing process
This text is clearly written and breaks down the mechanics of research and writing into easily understood steps. Great for students entering law school as well as for paralegals.

Absolutely awful book
This book is poorly written and unedited. It is riddled with grammatical errors; the captions for the illustrations and samples are misleading; often the text that can't be distinguished from illustrations because of inconsistent use of fonts and dividing rules. Legal Research and Writing Handbook: A Basic Approach
Although the Legal Research and Writing Handbook is geared for paralegals, it is a valuable guide for attorneys as well. The authors guide readers through each step necessary to use a research tool. In addition, readers learn how to integrate various research methods to perform comprehensive searches of legal materials. The writing portion of the book also provides a step by step approach to drafting documents. It is an excellent resource for all legal researchers and writers. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Law    2. Legal Reference / Law Profession    3. Legal Writing    4. Legal composition    5. Legal research    6. Paralegals & Paralegalism    7. Research    8. United States   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Law    3. Legal Reference / Law Profession    4. Research   

Reviews (2)

Not What I thought
As a student starting law school I thought that this book would give me an advantage in my legal research and writing class, boy waswrong... The book is full of useful information but none that realy pertains to law student. It is however, very basic in its approach and gives you a good start, so it is not a total waste.., The subtitle says that the book is for "non-lawyers", as if somewhere out there is a person who is not a lawyer and finds legal research fun. my recomendation is, that if you want a brief explanation of legal research and how to do it so that you are not totaly lost when you start law school this is a good book, but if you need it for some legal purpose and you are not a law student call a lawyer, trust me it is well worth the fees. Among the books flaws is that it tells you where to go to get the information but neglects to tell you that the resources they list, in the case of Lexis-Nexis and West Law require very expensive memberships and that most Law Schools restrict the use of their Law Library to students in their Law School and do not even allow students from the affiliated university to use the Law Library, as the Law Students in attendence at the law school require all of the resources of the Library and Legal Librarian ad nauseum and outsiders are most unwelcome.

The Best Introduction to the Topic
This book covers all the fundamentals in an engaging way.Very readable but not overly simplified either. It explained some "legalese" that I had never been able to understand and gave me new insights into our legal system. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Law    2. Legal Reference / Law Profession    3. Legal Research    4. Reference    5. Research    6. United States    7. Law / Research   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business Law    3. Business/Economics    4. General    5. Handbooks, manuals, etc    6. Legal Profession    7. Legal Reference / Law Profession    8. Legal Writing    9. Legal assistants    10. Legal composition    11. Research    12. United States    13. Business & Economics / General    14. Legal skills & practice    15. Writing & editing guides   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Law    3. Legal Reference / Law Profession    4. Legal research    5. Research    6. United States   

Reviews (3)

An Amazing Resource
This book is an amazing resource to find factual information needed to successfully represent clients in the practice of law.Recently, another lawyer asked me for advice on how to locate medical information about a surgical procedure that caused pain and scarring to his client.Although I do not do med mal cases, I knew this book would have the information he needed.I pulled out the book and there was Chapter 12--entirely devoted to medical resources on the Internet, including a heading "Starting Point Web Sites for Medical Research." Both of us were impressed, and my colleague wrote down the title and authors to order the book as soon as he returned to the office!The book includes other chapters on Accessing Public Records, Backgrounding Expert Witnesses, Competitive Intelligence Research, Statistical Research, and more.A resource that should be in every lawyer's office!

Easy to use - Even for Non-Lawyers
I'm not a lawyer and I find this book extremely useful and easy to use. Finally A Comprehensive Guide
As a lawyer, I spend a great deal of time searching for information. This book is a fantastic resource and I highly recommend it to others. Levitt takes a very complicated area and makes it simple. This book is worth the investment. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer network resources    2. Internet - General    3. Internet research    4. Law    5. Legal Reference / Law Profession    6. Legal research    7. Online Services - General    8. Reference    9. Research    10. United States    11. Law / Reference   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Handbooks, manuals, etc    3. Law    4. Legal Profession    5. Legal Reference / Law Profession    6. Legal Research    7. Legal assistants    8. Research    9. United States    10. Business & Economics / General    11. Jurisprudence & General Issues   

Reviews (3)

3 stars from a fence-sitter
One can obtain copies of previous editions for as little as 1 USD
A good text-book with which to teach
I teach a legal research and writing course withthis textbook at UCLA and have found it very helpful. The book is well organized, has good homeworkproblems, reasonably clear writing and fine illustrations.My students find it very helpful in their studies.Its only two flaws are that it does not use California law in its problems and has only one problem at its end totest all of the student's research skills.In a perfect world, two comprehensive research problems would be included to ensure that students have fully grasped the principles involved. While I have used the 4th edition over the last 3 years with great success, I am confident that this 5th edition (which I have read and am presently using in my class)will be equally effective.I only give it four stars because of the two flaws described above and the limited answers to homework problems given in the teacher's edition.

Great book for basic legal research
This book explains to the first year law student how to go about legal research in the library and on the internet.It has practice exercises inthe back of the book to facilitate the learning process.It is a quickread on all the main sources of legal research and general legal writing. It breaks down the elements of research into small, easy to manage partsthat don't make you feel totally overwhelmed during your first researchpaper. I think it is a great tool for the first year law student. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Information storage and retrie    2. Information storage and retrieval systems    3. Law    4. Legal Education    5. Legal Reference / Law Profession    6. Legal Writing    7. Legal research    8. Research    9. United States    10. Jurisprudence & General Issues   

Reviews (1)

Buyer Beware!
I am willing to admit that I contributed to my disappointment by purchasing a used book instead of brand new.However, those of us familiar with the costs of legal texts I am certain will understand my motivation.The edition I received from bookseller"oilpainter13" was a 20 year old text!! 8th Edition, NOT 9th Edition as advertised by Amazon.While the references and principles cited are obviously sound (after all, they're citing law) THEY ARE CONSPICUOUSLY DATED.My two stars are for the text itself in spite of its age.Apparently Oilpainter13 takes comfort in the fact that Amazon does not have any reviewer rate the provider. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Legal Reference / Law Profession    2. Legal Research    3. Reference    4. Research    5. United States    6. Law   

Subjects:  1. Handbooks, manuals, etc    2. Law    3. Legal Reference / Law Profession    4. Legal Research    5. Legal Writing    6. Legal assistants    7. Legal composition    8. Research    9. United States    10. Law / General   

Subjects:  1. Abuse - General    2. Attitudes    3. Europe    4. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    5. Family Law - General    6. Family violence    7. Law    8. Police    9. Research    10. Victims of crimes    11. Crime & criminology    12. Domestic violence    13. English criminal law: offences against the person    14. Police & security services   

Reviews (4)

Expert Writing on Being an Expert Witness
This is expert writing on being an expert witness. I skipped around but read the whole book and highly recommend that you do, too. It might be tempting to skip a chapter or two, depending on your needs, but reconsider and read them all. This was very helpful in many areas of expert witness, both research and testifying.

Solid advice for the beginning expert.
Becoming a specialist in one's field is a typical goal when questioning one of his/her aspirations. In many cases, you'll receive the answer, "...to become the best." (Love those willing to lay it all out!) If one's goal is to be a specialist, one must adhere to a few simple principals, principals composing vigilant and unending education. This individual will be current, well read, and extremely competent (in significantly most cases) in their chosen field. Many would call this individual an "expert" in his/her particular field. An accurate characterization indeed yet still green where the legal community is concerned. Capitalizing on this expertise is the mantra of Dan Poynter's, THE EXPERT WITNESS HANDBOOK. Good, but repetitious and needs a good editor
The Expert Witness Handbook covers a lot of ground, from selecting the expert andimpeaching opposing experts, to being deposed and giving trial testimony.The author is evidently well versed and very experienced in being an expert, and his opinions and anecdotes are laced through the book.This is both the strength and weakness of the book - the author's expertise in parachute accidents shows, but it also limits the overall usefulness.The repetition and poor grammar are more annoying.Because this book was published by the author, the lack of editing may be somewhat anticipated.Overall, I enjoyed the book and found it useful, but a good editor could have tightened it up a lot. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Civil Procedure    3. Consulting    4. Dispute Arbitration    5. Law    6. Legal Research    7. Litigation    8. Practical Guides    9. Business & Economics / Consulting   

Subjects:  1. Consumer Health    2. Evidence    3. Law    4. Property    5. Research    6. Safety    7. Traffic accident investigation