Much of the information contained in the New Student Survival Kit will be helpful to you in using the library and accessing our resources. The New Student Survival Kit can help you get technology help, check out course reserves, and get answers to your research questions. There is information on study aids available for free through BC Law and resources on basic legal research like links to Research Guides and helpful ebooks on legal research basics. In addition, below we have included some resources, books and legal dictionaries, that may particularly helpful to you in navigating the U.S. legal system and conducting U.S. legal research.
You have a dedicated law librarian, Sherry Xin Chen, who can assist you in navigating the many library resources. Sherry can assist you by answering questions on the library and services it provides, recommending resources and showing you how to access and use them, and consulting on research assignments. You can learn more about Sherry here.
The law library has a number of foreign language dictionaries in the collection. You can search the library catalog to locate both general and legal dictionaries and limit to the language you need. A law librarian can assist you in locating a dictionary as well. You can also access the Oxford Language Dictionaries online which contains Spanish, French, German, Italian and Chinese language dictionaries.
Black's Law Dictionary by
Building on the strength of previous editions, this edition includes an extensive appendix on legal abbreviations plus 17000 new definitions, explanation of more than 1000 law-related abbreviations and acronyms, and is enhanced with West Key Numbers for research reference.
Dictionary of International and Comparative Law by
An outstanding desktop tool, the Dictionary of International and Comparative Law is ideal for anyone seeking clear, concise definitions of terminology found in the practice of international and comparative law. This expanded and indispensable guide includes many entries which cannot be found in any other source. What's new in the Third Edition Indisputably the largest dictionary on this subject in print, with over 5,000 entries, 20% of the definitions are revised and enhanced and 500 new entries appear in this edition for the first time. Recognizing the influence of world events, terminology arising from acts of terrorism, such as the attack on the World Trade Center, and the subsequent escalating focus on the war on terrorism comprise many of the new entries.
Prince's Dictionary of Legal Citations by
Prince's Dictionary of Legal Citations: A Reference Guide for Attorneys, Legal Secretaries, Paralegals, and Law Students, Ninth Edition** assists the legal profession in citing legal authorities according to the rules given in The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 20th ed. (2015). This title is a companion to The Bluebook (not a replacement) and applies Bluebook rules to a representative collection of common legal authorities. The citations included are based on Bluebook rules, and the abbreviations are those found in The Bluebook or derived from its guidelines.
While The Bluebook strives to establish uniformity in citation form for court documents, the practitioner should remember that citation rules contained in local rules, state supreme court rules, rules of trial or appellate procedure, and statutes supersede Bluebook rules. Prince¿s includes both references to state court rules for citing cases and statutes, and examples of how to cite cases according to those rules.
What¿s New in the Ninth Edition
Besides updating both Bluebook and state court rule references, this edition has been updated to reflect all Twentieth Edition Bluebook revisions. The citations concerning Internet, electronic media, and other nonprint resources has been revised and expanded. Public domain information has been updated and includes additional domestic jurisdictions that now employ this form of citation. New or revised entries include ebooks, legal dictionaries, Facebook, Linkedin, online newspapers, newspaper editorials and opinions, plays, press releases, Twitter, American Law Institute publications such as Restatements, uniform acts, and model codes, and examples throughout the book citing to online sources.
American Law and the American Legal System in a Nutshell by 
American Law in a Global Context by 
The American Legal System for Foreign Lawyers by 
Narrowing the Gap by
This concise guide provides instruction for foreign legal practitioners or advanced LLM students on the basics of the U.S. legal system and the process of legal reasoning, using substantive topics in U.S. law as example. Using an innovative learning process, you'll be exposed to legal concepts in your system and language, and those same concepts in the U.S. legal system. This engaging book will help you develop confidence in the use of terms and concepts that are frequently used in the U.S. legal system. You'll find expert guidance on topics like summarizing key U.S. legal decisions, researching case law online, appealing judgments, and preparing case summaries for a client or partner. The guide addresses each concept using plain English language and, where appropriate, giving examples of concepts in practice to strengthen the reader's understanding.Narrowing the Gap also provides special focus on contracts, torts, and trade law. In these areas, you'll find an outline of the law in the U.S., as well as central concepts of relevance to that area of law today. In addition, the book illustrates the pitfalls that a foreign legal practitioner can encounter when working in these areas of U.S. law to help them approach these cases with a cautious eye to detail. Finally, you'll find valuable information on how you can further your knowledge of U.S. law by studying law in the United States, and also a specialized legal English dictionary of terms and phrases that are most commonly used in the three substantive areas and in the procedural practice area of law. If you're a foreign legal practitioner or advanced LLM student looking to strengthen your discussion and negotiation skills using legal English concepts common in the United States, this guide is your perfect desk reference to refer to on key concepts that you face on a regular basis.
U. S. Legal Practice Skills for International Law Students by
U.S. Legal Practice Skills for International Law Students is ideal for training international law students in the fundamental practice skills utilized by U.S. lawyers. It functions as a ''global legal skills academy'' for international students who have or are currently studying American substantive law, but desire a deeper understanding of legal practice basics such as professional responsibility, problem solving, interviewing and counseling, negotiation styles, and law firm and courtroom culture. It focuses on those practice skills necessary to perform the tasks common to international law students and lawyers working with American corporations, law firms, and individual American clients: drafting memoranda, contracts, and correspondence. For international students familiar with their own legal systems, the book systematically explains such distinctive elements of American common law as a dual court system, stare decisis, case synthesis, and case law reasoning.
U.S. Legal Practice Skills for International Law Students incorporates a multicultural perspective, including discussions of cross-cultural considerations impacting the practice of law. The chapters are clear and concise, major points are summarized as bulleted highlights, and extensive use is made of headings and subheadings. Based on established legal skills pedagogy, each chapter begins with a client hypothetical and ends with a discussion of the application of the material to resolve the client's problem. The text also includes an extensive selection of sample documents, a glossary of U.S. legal concepts, a link to past Multistate Practice Tests with the bar examiners' test sheets, and a topically organized appendix of resources. The book reflects the authors' experience as lawyers, as professors of practice skills for international LL.M. students at the University of Michigan Law School, and as the creators and first visiting professors in the legal practice program for the first Western-style law school in China.