Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage

An excellent reference for any writer of legal documents or researcher in the law, Garner's Modern Legal Usage is full of thorough, engaging explanations, and shows a strong preference for using as plain, clear English in the service of the law as possible. The notes on archaisms and uses that have fallen out of favor are especially helpful. The book also includes notes on various derogatory terms for lawyers, which are awesome and hilarious.

Includes a series of Essays on Style, Usage, Lexicology, wording, and punctuation.
This work is not merely a dictionary of meanings. It also provides short (alphabetically-accessed) Essays on Style, Grammar, Usage, Legal Lexicology, and Word Formation. For example, legal writing is plagued with Zeugmas. These confusions could be converted to Syllepsis to be correct and add both purposefulness and humor. Nice to know.

As noted in the essay on "Chameleon Words": A competent draftsman would not deliberately pick a word which instead of controlling the context is easily colored by it.. With this tool, prepare to challenge for cause!

Quote: IRONY. "The chief irony of lawyerdom is that poll after poll shows that (1) the public holds lawyers show more in low esteem, but (2) of all the possible careers that are available, parents would prefer to have their children become lawyers. Whole books could be written about that inconsistency."[509] show less

[2021-11-19]

KF156 .G367 1995 (REF)