Reprint of the second edition. A one-volume law dictionary intended to define and provide explanations of words and maxims relating strictly to law, without elucidation, for those not deeply acquainted with law. Shumaker based the work on the 1867 edition of Bouvier's Law Dictionary and added modern terms and maxims, which more than doubled the number of entries in the original.

Updated to reflect recent modifications in federal and state law, this book is a quick-reference source for lawyers, law students, legal professionals, and interested laypersons. The author defines more than 5,000 legal terms, using nontechnical language that remains legally accurate. Terms are documented with citations and apply to civil procedure, commercial and contract law, constitutional law, criminal law, property law, and torts. This is a "mass-market-size" paperback. This Law Dictionary is also available from Barron's in a trade edition that features larger pages with large type.

This book tells what the language of the law is, how it got that way and how it works out in the practice. The emphasis is more historical than philosophical, more practical than pedantic.