Legal Research and Writing for Paralegals, Second Edition [With Instructor's Manual]

The book and cover represented on the site are of the newer edition of the text. This is not what I received, but instead an outdated copy from 1994. Totally useless.

This is one of the best textbooks I have ever read - I savored every word! Trust me, you should buy it. It discusses the federal and state court systems; statutory law; case law; digests; A.L.R.; legal encyclopedias, periodicals, treatises, and restatements; proper Bluebook and ALWD citation; Shepardizing (an enitre chapter); how to use both Lexis and Westlaw; and useful instructions on how to write legal correspondence, legal memorandums, and briefs. I have a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley and am currently enrolled in the ABA-approved Paralegal Certificate program at San Francisco State. This book was assigned for my Legal Research & Writing class, but it explained the basic principles of the state and federal court systems much better than the textbook that was assigned for my Intro to Law/Civil Procedure class. The professor who assigned the book also teaches at a well-known law school and told our class that she wishes that she could assign it there as well, but is not the key decision maker. I am a writer, so I assumed that the chapters on legal writing were going to be boring and I planned to skip them. To my surprise, I learned a lot. I spent the whole day today in a law library working on a homework assignment. I keep thinking to myself how grateful I was to the author for writing this book because it helped me tremendously with the assignment. I am going to research how I can contact her to thank her!!! If you are planning to attend Paralegal or Law school I recommend that you read this book to help prepare yourself. It covers all of the basics.

I ordered the book and it arrived within 3days. The package was wrapped so there was no wear or tear. I was very pleased and would order again.

I used this book for class and I thought it was great. My professor really recommended it. good introductory read

This book is excellent and does not resemble the reviews for previous editions. I'm just getting into it, but questioned my professor for requiring it, until I read a few chapters and browsed through it and found it to be adequate, and more. The writing is clear and substantial and makes for easy and significant study.

I am currently a paralegal major at a community college in Maryland. This was not the book assigned for my legal research or legal writing classes, but I borrowed the book for the purpose of a research paper for English class. I found the book to be extremely helpful in my research process and I will purchase a copy for myself. Ms. Bouchoux is very thorough in illustrating the process involved in researching and writing clear and effect legal documents. I recommend to anyone studying to be a paralegal and/or attorney to purchase this book to use a reference guide.