Amazon.com Review
If you've ever needed to know whether your neighbor's barking poodle was an illegal nuisance, odds are you needed help. Legal information can be challenging and tedious to uncover, but once again our heroes at Nolo Press have drawn a map for the little guys with Legal Research: Online and in the Library. The text, written by attorneys Stephen Elias and Susan Levinkind, is the same as in the volume Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law, but comes with a Mac- and Windows-compatible CD-ROM containing thousands of links to legal resources online. (You must have a Web browser installed on your computer to use the links.) Inside the book you'll find well-organized sections on categorization, statutes, case law, memoranda, and more, with clear explanations, plenty of examples, and illustrative exercises that will give you all the tools you need to investigate the law and prepare the groundwork for any legal action you may have to take. The chapter covering online information distinguishes between free and fee-based services, how to search the Web most efficiently, and how to incorporate online tools into your increasing range of legal search skills.
While it's not a law degree, Legal Research: Online and in the Library is an inexpensive alternative for the spirited do-it-yourselfer. The skills you gain will pay for themselves as you do your own legal work or assist your attorney's researches; furthermore, the sense of empowerment that comes from knowing the law and how to use it is hard to beat. Today a poodle, tomorrow the airport! --Rob Lightner
