Customer Reviews

New York Practice, 4th Edition (Hornbook Series)

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David Siegel's New York Practice is considered the bible for legal practitioners in the Empire State. The book follows the CPLR generally, pulls in appropriate court-made rules and references important procedural provisions of the Court Acts. It is written in a practical and conversational style infrequently encountered in legal writing. The authoritativeness of the book, despite its readability, is reflected in the numerous cites to the text in the opinions of the courts of New York, and beyond. As a law clerk, I refer to the book often.

This is a well-written and well-organized discussion of civil practice in New York state. It has proved very useful for my pro se family court appeals and motion filing. The case citations are often not the absolute latest, but if you get a subscription to either Lexis-Nexis or Westlaw, you can "Shepardize" or "Keycite" them and bring up more recent decisions. The discussion on issues like notice and motions were very valuable to me as well as the explanation of the New York courts and their Uniform Rules and Rules of the Court which are essential to both filing and arguing your case. If you have a large civil damages case, you will need a lawyer to navigate the whole complex process, but Siegel will help you understand what is going on. You might also want to invest in a good horn book on torts such as "Prosser and Keeton on Torts" and McKinney's "New York Civil Practice Laws and Rules" also known simply as the CPLR.

New York deviates from the federal civil procedure model in a number of ways so this book will help an attorney come to grips with the unusual aspects of New York civil practice. You might want to invest in a book or seminar on New York motion practice as well which is a bit of a dark science with all sorts of surprises for the unwary.

Overall Siegel has done an excellent job with this book. I recommend it for attorneys as well as pro se litigants who lack the resources and training to navigate New York civil practice and motions without some help. For the latter, I strongly recommend you do your homework before you go to court and visit a law library at a university or courthouse that has the resources you will need to understand the basics.

I am only part-way through this 1100+ page book, but it appears to be providing me with all I need to move forward with one or more legal actions pro se. It had been recommended to me by the full-time pro se attorney for a local five-county region, and he was spot on. I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to have greater knowledge of the law as practiced in New York.

Very useful as fundamental overview or refresher of NYS practice protocols with due emphasis on the prevalence and application of the CPLR in civil litigation, as well as how that omnibus statute is adjusted by or supersedes case law. Siegel is clear for the most part (though the syntax can be eccentric at times - his publications have their own style as readers of the NYS Law Digest know) and focuses on actual case prosecution in the court system, particularly in NYS's four leading judicial departments (1-4, of course). Consider carefully whether the sections omitted from the student handbook make the practitioner's volume a better choice.

As a student, the NY Practice (Hornbook) is an easy reference guide in my current studies. I would recommend this book to all students.