Black's Law Dictionary 7th Edition [Hardcover]

Bryan A. Garner (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1999 | ISBN-10: 0314228640 | ISBN-13: 978-0314228642 | Edition: 7th

Since Black's Law Dictionary is revised on average only once each decade, the publication of a new edition is a major event. The strong reputation that Black's has attained over the past 108 years positions it as the quintessential legal reference tool for the 21st century. The 7th edition of Black's Law Dictionary is the most comprehensive, authoritative, scholarly, and accessible American law dictionary ever published.

Editorial Reviews

Review

It should have a place in the libraries of barristers and solicitors and certainly a place on every serious law student's bookshelf.The new edition of Black's Law Dictionary continues to provide a comprehensive and authoritative coverage of English and American legal terminology....its reliable and up-to-date definitions in plain (American) English make Black's Law Dictionary an essential tool for both scholars and practitioners. Construction & Engineering Law.

About the Author

Acknowledged by linguists and lawyers alike as THE authority in legal language and usage, his influence is both far-reaching and profound. Mr. Garner has has a hand in editing the most important legal references produced in the last decade, as well as in training lawyers and judges on sharpening and clarifying their own legal writing. In short, no one better bridges the worlds of law and language--nor is better suited to take on the classic work and make it better.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1738 pages
• Publisher: West Group; 7th edition (August 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0314228640
• ISBN-13: 978-0314228642
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.7 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > Law > Dictionaries & Terminology

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rebuttal to other reviews, September 11, 2003

By 

Opampman (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black's Law Dictionary 7th Edition (Hardcover)

Do not believe those reviewers who say that 1L's do not need this dictionary. I have struggled for almost a month now with my Mirriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law and other online dictionaries because these dictionaries do not give clear definitions. Black's, however, excels in clarity. For brevity's sake, I refrain from giving examples. Go look at the dictionary.

Some reviewers contend that the 7th edition is missing valuable information included in earlier editions. The missing information are largely case citations that give authority to various definitions. The 7th edition dispenses with this patchwork of lexicography in favor of an amalgamization approach aimed at transferring legal understanding to your mind as quickly as possible. If you need to do research on jurisdictional definitions of terms, consult Words and Phrases (multi-volume dictionary, every law library has it).

For those who are tempted to get the abridged version, I strongly encourage you to get the full version. The full version includes much commentary from legal treatises that expands understanding of the terms beyond the given definitions.

Finally, while you will have access to Black's on Westlaw your second semester, is there really a good substitute for hardcopy when your internet connection is down? Besides, if you are like me, you get sick of staring at the screen all day long.

Go buy this dictionary. You won't regret it.

69 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Critical Reference Tool for Legal Professionals, June 24, 2000

By 

Andrew T. Berkowitz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black's Law Dictionary 7th Edition (Hardcover)

How can anyone even tangentially involved in the legal arena dispute the preeminence of Black's Law Dictionary? It simply has no peer. If you are unable to effortlessly recite definitions used in lay english, you don't have a prayer with legal words, phrases, and terminology.

This work contains thousands of definitions, has been recently updated (7th edition) to encompass new and evolving areas of the law, and addresses more legal maxims than a college latin professor can shake a stick at. It is, therefore, simply the best.

I would like to briefly and concisely address come of the concerns of other reviewers. First, the color of the cover is completely irrelevant to the quality of the book. Get over it. If the problem is really that bad, buy a can of spray paint. Next, this monster doesn't go to class - it sits on your desk at home. If you need a pocket law dictionary for class (which you do), go buy one. Stop complaining because it won't fit into your Levis. Finally, if you don't think you need it, you need it more than you think. Every first year law student cracks this book early in the first semester. There isn't one law school professor in the country who doesn't own a copy. It's standard fare at all major law firms. So again, please tell me, why don't you need to purchase the most comprehensive, authoritative, and up-to-date legal dictionary in the world?

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't get caught behind on upgrading your copy of Black's, August 16, 2000

By 

Brent Dyer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black's Law Dictionary 7th Edition (Hardcover)

Some reviewers below have suggested that it is unnecessary, or even unadvisable, to buy the new edition if you have a past version of Black's Law Dictionary. Don't believe them. Would you listen to someone who told you "why should you buy a new version of Windows (or Mac OS)? That copy of Windows 2.0 (or System 4.3) is just as good."

The editor of the new edition is Bryan Garner, who is probably the most important legal language scholar of the past ten years. Oh heck, he's the most important legal language scholar of the last millenium. He and his associate editors have taken great pains to rewrite every definition from the past editions to make them understandable and usable. Don't believe me? Compare the current definitions of "good faith" and "bad faith" with the definitions from the previous edition, which were (in essence):

Good faith: not in bad faith

Bad faith: not in good faith.

Hardly helpful when you want to explain to someone (like a judge) why your client didn't act in "bad faith."

In addition, the current edition has added cross-references to other common sources of legal definitions and explanations, i.e., Restatements and Uniform Acts. This is unbelievably useful when you want to cite a "meatier" source than "Black's Law Dictionary" in a brief. If you're like my law firm and are limping by with an outdated edition of Black's, buy this one today and find out what you've been missing.