Research by Subject: Law: Dictionaries &amp; Encyclopedias

Dictionaries

Law dictionaries provide brief, authoritative definitions for legal words, phrases, and concepts.

Black's Law Dictionary
"Practical, comprehensive, scholarly, and authoritative law dictionary. With clarity and rigor, it defines more than 55,000 law-related words and phrases, recording their historical and present-day nuances."
To access from the Westlaw main page: Begin with Secondary Sources > link to Black's Law Dictionary will be on right-hand side.
Nolo's Plain-English Law Dictionary
Plain-English definitions for over a thousand legal terms.

Encyclopedias

Law encyclopedias are a useful beginning point when you are unfamiliar with a legal topic. Encyclopedias provide background information and cites to major cases, statutes, and regulations. They give the general state of the law and do not analyze or criticize the law.

Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law (via Gale)
Brief descriptions of issue's historical background, profiles of various U.S. laws and regulations, details of how laws and regulations vary from state to state, and comprehensive bibliographies that include print and Web resources and lists of relevant organizations. 2003 edition.
American Jurisprudence, 2nd
Provides an overview of US law for selected subjects. The articles include references to statutes, cases, and other legal materials.
Begin with Secondary Sources > By Type = American Jusisprudence 2d
California Jurisprudence (via Westlaw Campus Research)
Provides an overview of California law for selected subjects. The articles include references to statutes, cases, and other legal materials.
To access from Westlaw main page: Begin with Secondary Sources > By State = California > Texts & Treatises = California Jurisprudence
Summary of California Law. 10th ed. [ KFC30 .W58 Reference ]
1987 to present.
Contains chapters that are intended to be a "statement of important principles and rules" concerning the subjects covered. Includes references to statutes, cases, and other legal materials. Updated by pocket parts and supplement volumes.

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Dictionaries

Encyclopedias