Webster's New World Law Dictionary [Paperback]

Susan Ellis Wild (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0764542109 | ISBN-13: 978-0764542107 | Edition: 1

The Plain-English Legal Dictionary for Anyone Who Wants to Understand the Often Incomprehensible Terminology



Law has a language all its own. Webster's New World Law Dictionary translates it clearly. Written in plain English, it's much easier to understand than typical legal documents. It's up-to-date and comprehensive, with:
* Clear, concise, and accurate definitions of more than 4,000 legal terms
* Coverage of terms from all areas of law, including criminal law, contracts, evidence, constitutional law, property law, and torts
* Common abbreviations, foreign words and phrases, and a full copy of the United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights and all subsequent amendments
* Definitions of newer terms such as alternative minimum tax, three strikes law, and assisted suicide


In addition to those in the legal field, this desk reference is invaluable to journalists, researchers, lay people dealing with legal issues, and even those who simply want to use legal terms correctly in order to make their points more convincingly.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Plain-English Legal Dictionary for Anyone Who Wants to Understand the Often Incomprehensible Terminology

Law has a language all its own. Webster's New World Law Dictionary translates it clearly. Written in plain English, it's much easier to understand than typical legal documents. It's up-to-date and comprehensive, with:

• Clear, concise, and accurate definitions of more than 4,000 legal terms
• Coverage of terms from all areas of law, including criminal law, contracts, evidence, constitutional law, property law, and torts
• Common abbreviations, foreign words and phrases, and a full copy of the United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights and all subsequent amendments
• Definitions of newer terms such as alternative minimum tax, three strikes law, and assisted suicide

In addition to those in the legal field, this desk reference is invaluable to journalists, researchers, lay people dealing with legal issues, and even those who simply want to use legal terms correctly in order to make their points more convincingly.

About the Author

Legal Editor Susan Ellis Wild has been a practicing attorney since 1982, when she graduated with honors from George Washington University Law School. She is a litigator who is admitted to practice in several states, and frequently serves as an independent arbitrator/mediator of cases at the request of courts and private parties. She is the co-author of the Unofficial Guide to Getting a Divorce, 2nd Edition (Wiley, 2005), which she wrote with her ex-husband. She is currently President of the Bar Association of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Webster's New World; 1 edition (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764542109
• ISBN-13: 978-0764542107
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.7 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #483,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > Law > Dictionaries & Terminology

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lightweight, but not a disaster, March 25, 2009

By 

littlebird (Fairfax, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Webster's New World Law Dictionary (Kindle Edition)

I may be misunderstanding the previous reviewer (CR), but the way to look up a word in a dictionary is to turn to the letter and page that contains the term. It would be very odd for a dictionary to be separately indexed as that reviewer suggests it should be. That said, this particular dictionary is a lightweight among legal dictionaries. If you want a Webster's legal dictionary, the earlier Webster's Dictionary of Law is better.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Non-Lawyers Only, February 14, 2010

By 

Patricia M. Dugan "Patricia M. Dugan" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Webster's New World Law Dictionary (Kindle Edition)

This book is a paperback, inexpensive list of some of the most important legal terms in the US. It may not have been intended, but it is absolutely perfect for non-lawyers. I am both a civil lawyer and a Catholic Canon Lawyer and I recommend this book to other canon lawyers (without the civil law degree) to pick-up and keep on their book shelf. I like this book and find it very reader friendly. If you are in need of something to write that appellate brief, you already know that you should be using Black's. If you are just trying to lightly dip your toe into the legal world, then this is for you!

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This is crazy, March 19, 2009

By 

CR "CR" (Indianapolis) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Webster's New World Law Dictionary (Kindle Edition)

Good luck trying to use this reference. Who ever heard of a dictionary where you can't look up a term? This dictionary is not indexed in any way. So let's suppose you want to look up the definition of the word "contract." The only way to find it is to go page by page from "AAA" to "Contract" OR guess that the "c's " might be 20% into the dictionary and jump to that location OR use the Kindle search feature which will return 349 places in the text where the word "contract" is used-- 348 of them will not be the definition.