The ideal companion to standard legal references In recent years, the need for clarity and precision in legal writing has been the subject of increasing attention. Until now, however, the unwieldy body of legal usage has remained uncollected and unscrutinized in any systematic way. The first comprehensive guide to style and usage for the legal writer, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage provides accessible, authoritative, and up-to-date information that will enable lawyers, judges, students, scholars, and those who work in other fields concerned with legal language--such as journalism, medicine, business, and finance--to make their legal writing as clear and precise as possible by resolving questions of phraseology, diction, grammar, and style. The entries, arranged alphabetically, discuss distinctions among variant forms of legal terms, expose common pitfalls in legal writing, and include brief essays on such special topics as metaphors, sexism, clichés, initialese, misspellings, preferred spellings, Latinisms, grammar, and distinctions of meaning. In addition, the entries are highlighted with illustrations from such sources as judicial opinions, statutes, briefs, and law review articles. While the focus of the dictionary is on American usage, this is augmented by numerous examples of British usage where appropriate; moreover, Garner discusses legal words not to be found in other dictionaries. Modern Legal Usage is the ideal companion to standard law dictionaries and fills an important gap in the existing legal reference literature. FEATURES of A DICTIONARY OF MODERN LEGAL USAGE * offers comprehensive coverage and alphabetically arranged entries * contains over 6,000 headwords * provides a guide to pronunciation * gives clear, concise definitions * distinguishes between legal words that are closely related * discusses topics of interest to legal writers * lists preferred spellings * includes brief essays on points of grammar * uses numerous examples from legal documents * incorporates abundant cross-references ABOUT THE AUTHOR BRYAN A. GARNER is currently Visiting Associate Professor of Law at the University of Texas, Austin. Educated at the University of Texas at Austin and at Oxford University, he was an associate editor of Texas Law Review and clerked for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas, the Fifth Circuit Bar Association, the Southwestern Legal Foundation, and the American Judicature Society.

A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage

Garner, Bryan, A

Oxford University Press

When Bryan A. Garner's award-winning Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage appeared in 1987, it was widely acclaimed throughout the English-speaking world. Just in the U.S., Harvard Law Review called it "an authoritative guide" that "all legal writers will find...invaluable." ABA Journal hailed it as "a work of learning, taste, care, and wit"; and the Michigan Bar Journal called it "a landmark reference." Garner modeled that volume after Fowler's venerable Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Now he has written a new writing guide, this one inspired by Strunk &amp; White's classic book, The Elements of Style. Like the Strunk &amp; White book, The Elements of Legal Style offers authoritative, down-to-earth, and often witty advice on a broad array of writing concerns, from basic grammatical rules to enhancing clarity, force, and persuasiveness. Unlike Strunk &amp; White, it is written for lawyers, law students, judges and their law clerks--for anyone who writes in and about the law. With broad experience as a practitioner, academic, and writing consultant, Garner knows first hand where legal writing goes wrong, and he pays particular attention to these trouble spots. He not only reveals how and why lawyers spill their words vervbosely, he also memorably shows how lawyers can clean up their spills. In a section on commonly misused words in law, Garner crisply guides readers through the hazards of legal wordchoice. Throughout the book, Garner draws on splendid and not-so-splendid examples of legal prose to illustrate his points, quoting such eminenences as Justice Holmes, Clarence Darrow, William Prosser, Fred Rodell, Ronald Dworkin, Laurence H. Tribe, and Justice Scalia. Fred Rodell, the Yale law professor, once wrote that "90 per cent of American scholars and at least 99.44 per cent of American legal scholars not only do not know how to write simply; they do not know how to write." Rodell exaggerated for comic effect, of course, but legal writing certainly needs improvement. In The Elements of Legal Style, Bryan Garner shows the way.

The Elements of Legal Style

Legal Education

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 lawyer has written an accessible, authoritative, and up-to-date guide that will help anyone in the legal thicket write better, including lawyers, judges, students, journalists, and those who work in other fields concerned with law (among them medicine, business, and finance). At once scholarly and entertaining, the alphabetical entries define and distinguish between commonly misused words; explain standard usages that other reference works ignore; and cumulatively provide an unparalleled guide to legal style. On virtually every page, the volume contains sparkling essays on such topics as metaphors, sexism, cliches, Latinisms, danglers, split infinitives, and purple prose. It also brims with actual illustrations from judicial opinions, statutes, briefs, and law review articles. Already viewed as the classic book in its field, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage fills an important gap in legal reference literature.

A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage (Oxford Paperbacks)

Reference

With double the length and coverage of the original, this new edition of A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage (DMLU) thoroughly marshals and analyzes modern legal vocabulary. Since the 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 mentioned 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. Influential writers and editors rely on DMLU daily. Charles Alan Wright, for example, says, "I consult Garner regularly. He offers authoritative guidance on many matters of usage that are unique to legal writing....Garner is almost always pithy; he is often witty. Any lawyer, no matter how expert on words and language, is sure to learn from Garner's fine book." And the editors of Harvard Law Review have found it essential: "In a work worthy of comparison to Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage, Mr. Garner...sets forth an authoritative guide to American legal usage and style. All legal writers will find it an invaluable help; many law review editors will find it a source of delight. Don't confront your editor without it." 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, from Mirandize to representee -- 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 practicing lawyers, scholars of the law, and libraries of all sizes and types.

Parenting & Relationships

In every age, writers and editors need guidance through the thickets of English usage. Although some language issues are perennial (infer vs. imply), many others spring anew from the well of English: * Is it all right to say alums instead of alumni or alumnae? And should it be spelled alums or alumns? * Should I say empathic or empathetic? Do you home in or hone in? Is it a couple of dozen or a couple dozen? * What's the singular of paparazzi? Is paparazzis an acceptable plural? What about graffiti--singular or plural? And what about kudos? * What's the correct pronunciation of concierge? Or schism? Or flaccid? This book will tell you. In 750 pages of crisp, precise, and often witty pronouncements on modern American English, Bryan Garner authoritatively answers these and thousands of other questions that bedevil those who care about the language. Garner draws on massive evidence to support his judgments, citing more than 5,000 examples--good, bad, and ugly--from sources such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek. Here is a usage guide that, whether you're a language connoisseur or just a dabbler, you can savor in a leisurely way, a few paragraphs at a time. No one can browse through the book without sharing the author's spirited awareness of how words work and his relish for exposing the affectations that bloat our language. Yet if you don't have the time for browsing, but simply want a quick answer to an editorial riddle, this book is your best bet. DMAU can justifiably lay claim to being the most comprehensive treatment of how American English is used--and abused--as we enter the 21st century.

A Dictionary of Modern American Usage

Children's Books

Education & Reference

Here in a full linked, easily searchable CD-ROM are two classic legal reference works: Bryan Garner's Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage, Second Edition, and Fred Shapiro's Oxford Dictionary of American Legal Quotations. With more than 9,000 definitions and more than 3,500 quotations on all aspects of the law, The Lawyer's Reference Shelf is a valuable professional resource for all who study, teach, practice, or write about the law--merging the "indispensable" legal dictionary (Michigan Bar Journal) with the "standard" (Library Journal) legal quotations source in one carefully integrated research tool.

The Lawyer's Reference Shelf: containing the Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage, 2nd edition and the Oxford Dictionary of American Legal Quotations

Shapiro, Fred R.

Oxford University Press, USA

Good writing wins court cases. Now, one of America's most sought-after experts on legal writing offers a tested guide to preparing successful briefs - the written arguments lawyers present to judges and juries. In 100 concise, practical, easy-to-use sections, Bryan A. Garner goes step by step through the art of effective legal writing. He covers it all - from the rules for planning and organizing a brief to openers that can capture a judge's attention from the first few words. "Never write a sentence that you couldn't easily speak," Garner warns - and he shows how to do that. He gives masterly advice on building sound paragraphs, drafting crisp sentences, choosing the best words ("Strike pursuant to from your vocabulary."), quoting authority, citing sources, and designing a document that looks as impressive as it reads. Throughout, he shows how to edit for maximal impact, using vivid before-and-after examples that apply the basics of rhetoric to persuasive writing. Filled with examples of good and bad writing from actual briefs filed in courts of all types, the book also covers the new appellate rules for preparing federal briefs. An invaluable resource for attorneys, law clerks, judges, paralegals, and law students and their teachers, The Winning Brief has the qualities that make Garner's book so successful: authority, accessibility, and page after page of tips and techniques that work.

The Winning Brief: 100 Tips for Persuasive Briefing in Trial and Appellate Court

Literature & Fiction

What's the singular of paparazzi? Is graffiti singular or plural? What about kudos? Should I say empathic or empathetic? Is it a couple of dozen or a couple dozen? What's the correct pronunciation of concierge? Or schism? Or flaccid? In this book of crisp, precise, and often witty pronouncements on modern American English, Bryan Garner decisively answers these and thousands of other questions that bedevil those who care about the language. Garner draws on massive evidence to support his judgments, citing thousands of examples--good, bad, and ugly--from sources such as The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek. No one can browse through the book without sharing the authors spirited awareness of how words work and his relish for exposing the affectations that bloat our language. And even if you don't have the time for browsing, but simply want a quick answer to an editorial riddle, this book is your best bet.

The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style

Dictionaries & Thesauruses

With expanded coverage in this new edition, The Elements of Legal Style features additional sections, many more examples, and a thoroughly researched appendix that contains 80 major statements on prose style--what it is and how to attain it. Inspired by Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, this book clearly (often wittily) explains the full range of what legal writers need to know: mechanics, word choice, structure, and rhetoric, as well as all the special conventions that legal writers should follow in using headings, defined terms, quotations, and many other devices. Garner also provides abundant examples from the best legal writers of yesterday and today, including Oliver Wendell Holmes, Clarence Darrow, Frank Easterbrook, and Antonin Scalia. If you want to make your writing clearer, more precise, more persuasive, and above all more stylish, The Elements of Legal Style offers the surest--and the most enjoyable--means to that end.

Business & Money

Garner's Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage gives authoritative guidance on all the vexing questions that legal writers face, from correcting grammatical errors to framing legal issues to distinguishing between similar but distinct legal terms. With great detail and care, Garner explains what legalese is, how it can be simplified, and how far legal writers can go in simplifying it. The topics are alphabetically arranged for ease of reference: simply look up any phrase or grammatical category you're interested in, and you're likely to find the final word on the subject. Shortly after the completion of this massively expanded second edition, the late Charles Alan Wright said: "The first edition of this book has been praised around the world as both the most reliable guide to legal usage and the most fascinating to read. The second edition outdoes even its predecessor."

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Garner, Bryan, A. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Garner, Bryan, A

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Garner, Bryan, A. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage

The Elements of Legal Style

A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage (Oxford Paperbacks)

A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage

A Dictionary of Modern American Usage

The Lawyer's Reference Shelf: containing the Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage, 2nd edition and the Oxford Dictionary of American Legal Quotations

The Winning Brief: 100 Tips for Persuasive Briefing in Trial and Appellate Court

The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style

The Elements of Legal Style

A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage