Best law dictionaries & terminology books according to redditors

A partner at the firm I worked at for the first half of the summer suggested McElhaney's Trial Notebook, and some of the other litigation partners/associates said it was pretty good as well.

McElhaney's Trial Notebook

• Typography for Lawyers.
  
  
• The Winning Brief.
  
  
• Legal Writing in Plain English.
  
  Also, get a subscription to the Chicago Manual of Style online. Look up every stylistic question you come across and make no assumptions.

Are you looking to specifically how to structure the brief or how to write a well written brief?

Writing the Winning Brief is a good overall writing guide.

http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Brief-Persuasive-Briefing-Appellate/dp/019517075X

For appellate briefs, look at Brian Garner's work.

https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Brief-Persuasive-Briefing-Appellate/dp/0199378355

Here are some books I'd recommend:

Changing Laws, Saving Lives: https://www.trialguides.com/collections/books/products/changing-laws-saving-lives

The Plaintiff Lawyer's Playbook: https://www.trialguides.com/collections/books/products/the-plaintiff-lawyers-playbook

Twelve Heroes, One Voice: https://www.trialguides.com/collections/books/products/twelve-heroes-one-voice

McElhaney's Trial Notebook: https://smile.amazon.com/McElhaneys-Trial-Notebook-James-McElhaney/dp/1590315030?sa-no-redirect=1

Winning at trial: https://smile.amazon.com/Winning-Winner-Highest-Professional-Excellence/dp/160156001X/ref=pd_sbs_14_13?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=160156001X&pd_rd_r=845a375c-7200-49f2-9dae-49f4c77c8820&pd_rd_w=yeBiQ&pd_rd_wg=kow2F&pf_rd_p=52b7592c-2dc9-4ac6-84d4-4bda6360045e&pf_rd_r=DZKRBF0S8HJ20R61HKTP&psc=1&refRID=DZKRBF0S8HJ20R61HKTP

Yeah the book was a little expensive, but it’s a great resource if you are at all interested in legal and formal Spanish. I’m just in the first chapter and I’ve had a good refresher on the US Constitution and courts. Well worth the money. Amazon had the cheapest price by far, at least that was the case when I bought it a few weeks ago.
Español para abogados

Why stop at the blue book, have you ever heard of a court that didn't rely on the black book for a definition?

This is the current edition of Black's. Write something nice in the front and he will treasure it always.

A gift certificate for something nice that's not to far from law school is a great choice, either in addition to or instead of Black's. Like a nice restaurant (when I came home for Thanksgiving my first year, my parents asked where I wanted to go to dinner the night before. I said "somewhere with a waitress"), or maybe to a Massage Envy type of place. Or hell, even a $10 gift card for Cold Stone Creamery or somewhere he probably wouldn't choose to go himself.

Planners are very personal (for the people still using them instead of their phones) and if you wanted to go that route, I'd get a gift card to the store and let him pick one out himself.

Sorry English isn’t your first language. You can read more about terminology here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764143581/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_knxhDb6QJCBJ3

McElhaney's Trial Notebook

https://www.amazon.com/Single-Variable-Calculus-Early-Transcendentals/dp/B006R9HHRM (The used copy)

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Solutions-Stewarts-Variable-Transcendentals/dp/B00J4FLJ9S (The used copy as well)

You're so linear.
Go grab a Black's Law Dictionary and define those terms under their legal meaning and not your interpretation of them.

Never said The Church of satan wasn't a legal religion. So is the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. That doesn't mean I thing alot of Pastafarians should come dressed as pirates to essentially disrupt a tradition that myself & others consider to be very important.

For the record, I don't hate strippers. Why would you assume I do?
I don't approve of their choices of profession but that's the same for many things. I don't hate. It's not in my nature.

As another lawyer, I hope you don't write legal documents the same way you comment.

• Improper use of capitalized words (e.g., "[b]attery," "[t]ort," and "[n]egligence"),
  
  
• Unnecessary use of legalese (e.g., "one," "said individual"),
  
  
• Improper use of "anyone" when you meant "any one,"
  
  
• Failure to properly use commas,
  
  
• Excessive use of "and" following semicolons,
  
  
• The use of gender-specific pronouns, etc.
  
  They're all giving me a panic attack for the legal profession.
  
  Fortunately, there are some very simple solutions for you:
  
  
• Get a membership here and start looking up questions when you have them. You might not realize it, but almost all of your sentences involve mistakes. So look them up!
  
  
• Buy and read this book, this book, and this book.
  
  You have a lot of work to do, but it'll be worth it when people start actually reading your briefs.

Post a link to a Leagalese training website lol? Why do you think you need a barrister in court? So they can translate for you.

https://www.amazon.com/Blacks-Law-Dictionary-Henry-Black/dp/0963010603