All About the Basics, Legal Style
For those new to the legal field, a strong grasp of the basics – the fundamental concepts and terminology that form the backbone of legal practice – is essential for success. Foundational knowledge is key to developing a nuanced understanding of complex legal issues and navigating intricate procedures with confidence. Grasping the concepts behind concepts of canon law, civil rights, jurisdiction, parliamentary procedure, freedom of information, pretrial motion, public prosecutor and public record system, will assist beginning legal professionals in mastering any area of practice. And although some general legal texts are dated , there are numerous modern foundational texts available that convey both the minutiae and the big picture for those starting down the legal path. For beginning law students and those newly entering the legal field, judicial textbooks can impart a background knowledge that serves as a solid starting point. Mastery of the basics enables law students and early-career legal professionals to more readily grasp the complexities of case law and legal precedent, while giving them a broad understanding of how the law has developed over time.
Best Beginner Law Books
The following is a compiled list of resources that are highly regarded and used in legal education today:
- "Law 101: Everything You Need to Know About the American Legal System" by Oak Hill Sr. – An overview written in a way that helps most individuals understand the basic United States Federal laws and how they can impact you as a citizen.
- "Common Law Reasoning and Jury Decision Making: A Psychological Perspective on the Social Application of the Law." by Jeff Sugar – A brief and effective overview discussing the appellate court system through the eyes of a psychologist and how changes in the law have impacted the jury system.
- "A Dictionary of Law" by Jackson HCad DS&P – Written in the format of a dictionary, next to each entry is a "See Also" that broadens your understanding of its meaning by referring you to another dictionary entry. Great for reference and makes understanding the legalese a little easier. This work can also be found in a more compact form titled "Cornell Illustrated Encyclopedia of Law," published 2007.
- "Law Made Simple" by John Renavides – This publication describes itself as a guide providing facts on what the law is and why. It covers the categories of law as distinguished among lawyers, judges and legal teachers; the familiar (for example: criminal, tort, contract, property, tax) and the not so familiar (administrative and constitutional). It also discusses the history of the development of law and addresses current social issues, including a commentary on the legal issues present in the current economic crisis. "Law Made Simple" is published by Harbour Publishing.
- "The Law" by Frederic Bastiat – A condensed paper back copy of this book is currently in print and it is available on the internet in several versions. This book simply and succinctly discusses the most prominent issues in law today and has a good description of What is Law? and What is Not Law?
- "Constitutional Law In a Nutshell" by William Cohen, 4th Edition – This book presents a very clear picture of what the Constitution says and the legal principles behind it. This work is also accompanied in written form by "Constitutional Law: Examples and Explanations" by Dan Dobbs, 4th Edition – This book, in example and explanation format, expands upon "Constitutional Law In a Nutshell" and is a great companion to it. This author has also written several publications addressing more specific areas of law as they relate to the Constitution.
This list is a short sampling of the vast number of publications being offered today. There are many other works out there focusing on several specific areas, such as Criminal Law, Family Law and Landlord/Tenant Law, to name a few.
Books on Law Covering Concepts
An excellent way to become more familiar with legal matters is to read books that explain legal principles and issues in a clear and straightforward way. These types of books can help you gain a better understanding of legal reasoning and see how courts and judges approach legal questions and problems.
Law 101: Everything Explained In Plain English (Leslie C. Levin & Benjamin Bailar)
Becoming overly familiar with legal concepts and terminology can be intimidating to some people, but this book does a great job of explaining complicated topics in an easy-to-understand manner. The book provides clear definitions, examples and illustrations to explain 40 legal concepts that are prevalent in courts throughout the country.
Guide to Legal Research
Where law school students take a semester to learn how to properly research legal matters, this guide provides a framework for you to use when you need to learn more about an unfamiliar topic. The guide explains the basic elements of legal research to get you started.
Law of the Land: A Grand Tour of Our Constitutional Republic (David L. Hudson, Jr.)
When using the internet, social media or other forms of modern technology, it can sometimes be difficult to keep straight what protections apply to what types of communications. This book provides a framework to understand our modern communication landscape and how these communications fit within the constitutional and legal framework. It covers online free speech, digital security and privacy, warrants, criminal actions, evidence and impeachment.
How to Be a Lawyer (Joseph Kimble)
Looking for some practical tips for your career? This book takes you through the process of learning and eventually mastering legal writing and research — the two skills that can have the greatest impact on your success as a legal professional.
An Introduction to the American Legal System (Frank W. Miller)
Study of Book Analyses
Books that are filled with case studies can prove to be particularly beneficial for beginners, as they allow a person to really engage with the law by seeing how it is applied in real situations. The case studies are oftentimes taken from actual cases brought before the courts, giving the reader further insight into the way laws are applied and why they are enforced the way they are.
At times, a legal text that is filled with case studies can remove some of the complicated language while still providing information that the reader needs to be aware of. This can allow the reader to learn legal terminology while still being able to follow everything that is going on. Case studies can add fun throughout the learning process, enabling the user to connect more with the story rather than having to think about whether or not they actually understand what is going on. Additionally, the student also has the ability to see how laws are applied to specific people rather than having everything that he or she may be reading be theoretical.
One such book that is filled with case studies is called Case in Point: complete guide to critical thinking. This book, written by Marc Tucker, illustrates the way that information is implemented into practice throughout different professions, providing students with the ability to learn the material presented in other chapters. The case studies that are presented throughout the book provide further insight to the reader into the manner in which the information is used – and not always used – in the real world.
Another book that is filled with case studies is Comprehensive Guide to Reading and Understanding Court Cases by Brown Times. This book addresses legal jargon, legal terminology, and aids the reader through the entire process of researching, analyzing and writing about court cases. It teaches a person how to read a case — how to comprehend the facts that are involved with the case, assess the issue, determine the rule of law that is being applied, and then analyze the application to determine how it effects the matter at hand. The writing skills that are gotten through the case studies are seen throughout the entire book, and the terminology learned throughout the case studies can be used throughout the remainder of the book, making it a great way to get a good grasp on the academic side of the issue while also gaining a proper understanding of the issues a person may see in their day-to-day lives.
Resources for Legal Writing/Research
In addition to the aforementioned books that offer a big picture overview of U.S. law, it is also important to have some familiarity with the skills involved in legal writing and research. As you might have guessed, these are two more topics you will want to tackle quickly in your legal library. Fortunately, you can accomplish both of them in one fell swoop with below:
Legal Writing: Getting It Right and Getting It Written by Diana Carpenter. This resource is a highly respected work by one of the leading legal writing experts in the field.
Introduction to Legal Research by Robert C. Berring , R. Bruce MacDavid and Carolyn A. Shapiro. This book comes courtesy of leading legal research experts and is perfect for anyone who has never done legal research before or who is only a bit familiar with it.
Hopefully, the works listed above will help you find a good legal footing when first starting out.
The Legal Systems in Use
A valuable addition to a budding lawyer’s library is a book that offers insights into legal systems beyond their own. Such books can provide readers with a more comprehensive understanding of the global scope of contemporary legal issues. They allow law students to better understand international laws and globalised markets and to expand their knowledge of international economic, ethical, and ecological interdependence.
One popular selection, Understanding Legal Systems, from the Understanding series (recently reviewed in these pages) briefly tracks the development of our world’s major legal systems – common law and civil law; religious law, such as Shari’a, canon law of Christianity, and Hindu law; customary law; and international law.
The authors of Understanding Legal Systems convincingly argue that these dominant systems and their regional variations provide the foundation for comprehending the increasingly complex rules that regulate a transnational legal order.
The Development of Legal Systems in the Greatest Depth
Aspects of the common law and civil law are examined in more detail in two other entries in the Understanding series. The Common Law and Civil Law, by John M. Dzieniewski, assists the starting lawyer to navigate the language of his or her own legal system.
One of the first judicial decisions in the thirteen American colonies treated the common law as "the greatest belonging of the English." The decision did not describe the characteristics of English law but simply relied on its status within American society. This view – recounted in The Common Law – continued and has shaped public law doctrine to this very day, according author Richard A. Posner in Encyclopaedia of Law and Economics by ensuring "that judges should follow precedents unless there is a compelling reason to change."
The Civil Law, by James R. Maxeiner, stresses the important role of legal codes in countries that follow this system of law. Consistent with the principles of planners and observers, Maxeiner states that civil law’s static codes are susceptible to obsolescence, but that they tend to be constantly updated in response to new developments.
The Authoritative Text: The Oxford English Dictionary
No library guideline would be complete without a recommended dictionary, but The Oxford English Dictionary is more than just a record of the current meanings of words.
It delineates each and every period and style of English usage for the past thousand years. In addition to its descriptive entries for individual words, it organizes individual words into families across time and across dialects. Thus, the OED treats of distinguishable English periods such as Old and Middle, as well as regional languages such as Scottish, Welsh, and Irish.
Words’ etymologies are given in some remarkable depth, tracing English language borrowings from the French of the medieval period to modern-day borrowings from non-European languages such as Vietnamese, Zulu, and Xhosa.
Picking the Right Book for You
While there is a collection of go-to law books that everyone in the legal industry should read, if you are just starting your career or getting acclimated to the field, selecting the right legal book for you can be much more personal. You must take into account your interests , your career goals and the areas of law you wish to further explore when deciding what book to get your hands on. Are you focusing on general practice? Environmental law? Intellectual property? The list goes on and on. When it comes down to begin a practitioner in a specific area of the law, it is important to lay the groundwork with books that will help you to not only learn the law, but also make you a better lawyer down the line.
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