Black's Law Dictionary, Eighth Edition (Black's Law Dictionary (Standard Edition))

I bought the paperback version of Black's, and it became my editing bible overnight. Having read the reviews written by law students and attorneys, I bow to their judgment of this book. But I am neither, and I need a tool I can use quickly and well. For me, this book is truly a godsend. The definitions are clear, concise, and enough to let me know whether the copy I am reading has cited a case clearly, or whether I have to query the author. And that's only one of many examples.

As far as I am concerned, this is a five-star reference book, one that I am glad to have in my editing library.


The Bible of Legal Dictionaries   December 10, 2004
 29 out of 30 found this review helpful

Black's Law Dictionary continues as the preeminent legal dictionary in its eighth and latest edition and is a must have for even the smallest law library. The black hardcover replaces the not so aesthetically pleasing red cover in the seventh edition.

The U.S. Supreme Court cited to Black's Law Dictionary in 10 of the 82 opinions it issued during the 2003-2004 session and the Minnesota Supreme Court has cited to Black's Law Dictionary in 31 opinions since 2000.

Some of the new terms in the updated eighth edition include "cyberpiracy," "cyberterrorism," "chad," "ethnic cleansing," and "grandparent rights." Earlier editions had omitted some commonplace terms such as "sidebar comment" and "senatorial courtesy."

Editor in Chief Bryan A. Garner, who also authored A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage and The Elements of Legal Style, has been praised by the ABA Appellate Practice Journal as "the preeminent expert in America on good legal writing" and received the prestigious 1994 Henry C. Lind Award by the Association of Reporters of Judicial Decisions. Garner also received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Thomas M. Cooley School of Law in Michigan and heads Law Prose Inc., a continuing legal education group that trains judges and attorneys in legal writing and drafting. Black's Law Dictionary is not only an excellent reference book, but it is also an effective and persuasive authority to cite in briefs.

The latest edition continues the high standard set by Henry Campbell Black, an English legal scholar who authored treatises on topics from contracts to liquor laws, who compiled the first edition of Black's Law Dictionary in 1891.



Good effort   August 24, 2006
 29 out of 60 found this review helpful

I just finished reading "Black's Law Dictionary," and I must say I disagree with many of the reviews on this board. I thought the story was fairly uninteresting and the characters one-dimensional. It started strong (the "animus capiendi" scene comes to mind) but it dragged in the middle and ended flat (too much time spent on the "year-and-a-day rule"). I will admit I thoroughly enjoyed the list of British Regnal Years in Appendix G. Good effort by the author, the up-and-coming Black, but just two stars from this reviewer.


Don't get caught behind on upgrading your copy of Black's   August 17, 2000
 26 out of 28 found this review helpful

Some reviewers below have suggested that it is unnecessary, or even unadvisable, to buy the new edition if you have a past version of Black's Law Dictionary. Don't believe them. Would you listen to someone who told you "why should you buy a new version of Windows (or Mac OS)? That copy of Windows 2.0 (or System 4.3) is just as good."

The editor of the new edition is Bryan Garner, who is probably the most important legal language scholar of the past ten years. Oh heck, he's the most important legal language scholar of the last millenium. He and his associate editors have taken great pains to rewrite every definition from the past editions to make them understandable and usable. Don't believe me? Compare the current definitions of "good faith" and "bad faith" with the definitions from the previous edition, which were (in essence):

Good faith: not in bad faith

Bad faith: not in good faith.

Hardly helpful when you want to explain to someone (like a judge) why your client didn't act in "bad faith."

In addition, the current edition has added cross-references to other common sources of legal definitions and explanations, i.e., Restatements and Uniform Acts. This is unbelievably useful when you want to cite a "meatier" source than "Black's Law Dictionary" in a brief. If you're like my law firm and are limping by with an outdated edition of Black's, buy this one today and find out what you've been missing.


The Universal Authority for Legal Definitions   December 23, 2004
 26 out of 35 found this review helpful

When the stakes are high, when failure is not an option, when there wont be a second chance, when reputations are on the table, there is only one book that you should have on your desk for legal definitions, and that book is Black's Law Dictionary. For years, Black's Law Dictionary has been a staple at firms large and small alike, serving as an invaluable reference when one needs a universally accepted and respected definition of a term.

Cases are often made (or not made) based not on a cold, dry reading of the law itself but rather the efficiency with which the practitioner conveys his point and makes it stand on its own. A compelling brief is often short but makes extensive use of powerful language to grab the reader's attention and hold it. A well written pleading will have it's reader thinking about the points made therein long after the proceeding has concluded.

This is a reference volume you will refer to time and time again, it is well worth the expense and no other product can compare. A mechanic is only as good as his tools, and a legal practitioner is only as good as the research materials he has access to.

Black's Law Dictionary is the most concise, most complete collection of legal definitions ever assembled.