Legal Research: How to Find & Understand the Law [Paperback]

Stephen Elias (Author), Susan Levinkind (Author)

Book Description

Series: Legal Research | Publication Date: July 30, 2004

Excellent for anyone searching for information in a real or virtual law library (including paralegals, law students, legal assistants and journalists), Legal Research outlines a systematic method to find answers and get results.

In plain, readable English, Attorneys Elias and Levinkind explain, with plenty of examples and instructions, how to:

*read and understand statues, regulations and cases
*evaluate cases for their value as precedent
*use all the basic tools of legal research
*practice what you've learned with "hands-on, feet-in" library exercises, as well as hypothetical research problems and solutions

This easy-to-use and understand book, now in its 12th edition, has been adopted as a text in many law schools and paralegal programs.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you take it step by step, the United States legal system is not nearly as intimidating as it is reputed to be. With a little expert guidance from a couple of attorneys (Stephen Elias and Susan Levinkind), you can learn what's in a law library and how to use it, how to seek and understand statutes, regulations, and cases, how to explore online resources, practice your legal skills in the library, and even write a reputable legal memorandum. It's not as easy nor as immediately gratifying as buying an ice-cream cone, but with a modicum of patience, dedication and average smarts, you can research and understand the law without years of legal training and without emptying your bank account onto some lawyer's shiny desk.

The text is approachable and easy to read. The authors' sensible approach takes the fear out of entering a law library, reassuring you that you needn't be a lawyer to be there and that the librarians are generally eager to please. By helping you formulate your legal questions (is the issue federal or state, civil or criminal, procedural or substantive?), narrowing your focus through legal indexes, and pursuing the appropriate resources, statutory laws, and relevant cases, the authors bring clarity and structure to the task. Nolo Press is famous for stripping the law of its daunting armor and making it accessible to the interested layperson. This guide to legal research is up to the usual high Nolo Press standards. It's a great boon to those who want to check out the law for themselves. --Stephanie Gold --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

Getting around the law library can be easy—if you just know where to look-and Legal Research the place to begin. -- Library Journal

This book has a valid and honored place on the shelves of both novice and practiced legal researchers. -- Legal Research Quarterly

This book remains the best single introduction...to the mysterious world of legal research. -- Robert C. Berring, Law Librarian, University of California, Berkeley

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Nolo; 12th edition (July 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413300588
• ISBN-13: 978-1413300581
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,494,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen R. Elias is an attorney and former associate publisher at Nolo, as well as the current President of National Bankruptcy Law Project. He is the author of many Nolo books, most recently Bankruptcy for Small Business Owners. Other titles include Special Needs Trusts: Protect Your Child's Financial Future, How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, and Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law. He is also one of the original authors of Nolo's bestselling WillMaker software. Steve holds a law degree from Hastings College of Law and practiced law in California, New York, and Vermont before joining Nolo in 1980. He has been featured in such major media as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Good Morning America, 20/20, Money magazine, and more. Steve's blog on bankruptcy and foreclosure law can be found at Nolo's Bankruptcy & Foreclosure Blog.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The very best!, May 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Legal Research: How to Find & Understand the Law (Paperback)

I am a legal assistant and I use this book constantly! It gives you great strategies to work more efficiently while getting better results. I had no idea how many legal resources there are online! This book tells you which sites are the most reliable and easy to use. It also demystifies annotated legal codes, case digests, state reports and many other research tools. But most importantly it is extremeley well organized and easy to use. I wish that I had discovered this book when I was a student!

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best available, October 16, 2001

By 

Jean L. Willis (Eau Claire, Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law (Paperback)

If you have a modicum of introduction to the law, and need a guidebook on "how to" go about researching a legal question, this book is one of the best available. It does assume that you have some working knowledge of how law works, but is an especially good book for either first year law students or paralegal students beyond their introductory courses. Well worth having on your shelf.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A simple, direct, straightforward, "user friendly" guide, September 5, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Legal Research: How to Find & Understand the Law (Paperback)

Now in its tenth edition, Legal Research: How To Find & Understand The Law by attorneys Stephen Elias and Susan Levinkind is a simple, direct, straightforward, "user friendly" guide to the extremely complicated and tricky topic of doing legal research. Individual chapters address how to properly frame questions in legal categories and efficiently look up relevant laws and case history. Legal Research is emphatically not a substitute for a consultation with an attorney; however, a close reading followed by judicious use of its fact-finding methods is a superbly effective way for non-specialist general readers to prepare themselves before sitting down with a billed-by-the-hour consultation with a licensed attorney or paralegal researcher!