Rating: 
Summary: Think why you need it before you buy it!
Review: Black's has long been mandatory to purchase at most major law schools. But after the first year, it is little used, and few lawyers are seen to use it. It is the sort of book you'll see gathering dust in a lawyer's bookshelves. The difficulty is that Black's, to be useful everywhere (if it can be) gives common-law definitions. Lawyers are usually interested in how words have been defined and construed by the courts of the state they practice in. A definition from Black's really doesn't have that much weight, a judge wants a precedent, not a nineteenth century definition. With the Internet containing many reference manuals, the utility of Black's is even less. However, it is useful for the person (law student, paralegal, lay person who must read legal documents) who is a little over their head in legal matters and needs a reference. Just so that you understand your legislature may have defined a word differently than what's in Black's . . . Make sure you're going to use it before you buy it, the various editions are awfully expensive just to gather dust.
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Summary: Good for lawyers, not needed for law students
Review: Black's is widely regarded as the ultimate authority for the definition of legal terms. I bought the leather-bound version on the first day of law school, but never used it once. (A law student can get by with a paperback legal dictionary.) However, I HAVE used this book as a practicing attorney. I once used it as authority in a brief, and the judge actually relied on the Black's definition to justify his order in my favor.
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Summary: The Debater's dream book!
Review: Black's Law Dictionary has come in handy on many occassions, especially during Debate meets. It is considered the most reliable source for definitions concerning the debate topic.
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Summary: A WORK OF ART
Review: Black's Law Dictionary is probably one of the most important books that a lawyer can have in his shelves. It includes American, English, and Roman terms that are easy to understand. It's a treasure for college students, professors, and Presidents.
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Summary: Don't leave (fill in the blank) without it!
Review: Black's Law Dictionary is T.H.E. base from which all legal knowledge, understanding, and research can flow. (U.S.F. '71, '74, CA Bar)
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Summary: An essential reference for criminal justice students.
Review: Black's Law Dictionary should be a required purchase for college freshmen, especially criminal justice majors. This book will be utilized on numerous occassions in an academic career and will continue its usefulness well into the student's professional career. (Submitted by a community college criminal justice instructor, former university adjunct associate professor and police officer.)
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Summary: Indispensable for Genealogy Research.
Review: Blacks Law Dictionary is an indespensable aid for genealogy researchers examining old court documents and deeds. Terms used 250 years ago are explained in detail to the legal novice. Terminology in court proceedings in 1749 are easy to understand and decifer as it is in todays proceedings.
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Summary: definition of treatise and title opinion
Review: definitions of treatise adn title opinio
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Summary: Rebuttal to other reviews
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Rebuttal to other reviews
Review: 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.
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