The revolutionary guide to legal research for laypersons, students, Legal Services offices, and even pro bono lawyers!

 

Unlike previous bibliographies of self-help law books, A Layperson’s Guide to Legal Research and Self-Help Law Books adopts a far more expansive approach.  Each of its 88 subject-specific bibliographies is prefaced by commentary on the nature of the law of that legal specialty, the legal sources from which it is derived, links to online sources for further information, and a September 2026 update of recent developments in the field.  This gives laypersons a far more complete and sophisticated context in which to comprehend the nature of the legal specialty of their concern.  This edition also provides the layperson with critical guidance the role of artificial intelligence in legal research.

 

The core content of the book includes carefully curated reviews of over 900 titles in 88 subject areas, predominantly of the self-help variety.  The reviews themselves are often lengthier than those appearing in previous annotated bibliographies of self-help law books, most of which have simply provided basic bibliographical data. This new approach helps to educate the reader about the nature of the law in question, rather than merely providing a cursory overview of the book’s content.

 

The rising cost of legal services has priced a large segment of the general public out of the legal marketplace.  In response, many individuals have chosen to handle their own legal problems without hiring a lawyer, or, perhaps, using their new-found knowledge to monitor the progress of the attorney they do hire, or use on a limited scope representation basis.  In the past thirty years, a large body of self-help law books has emerged to provide them with the knowledge and confidence to proceed “pro se,” often with results comparable to those which they might have achieved with professional legal help. 

 

The invaluable appendices include a bibliography of state legal research guides, the most complete directory of public law libraries in the United States, as well as directories of Legal Services offices by state, court-based self-help centers by state, and a directory of legal publishers.  This is an essential reference work for any law, public, or academic library which fields legal questions or inquiries, or Legal Service offices, self-help centers, or pro bono attorneys that serve those in search of civil legal aid.

 

Author Kendall Svengalis brings more than fifty years’ experience as a professional law librarian, forty of these as a consumer advocate, and thirty as the author and publisher of the award-winning annual Legal Information Buyer’s Guide & Reference Manual, the nation’s leading consumer guide to legal information, and A Layperson’s Guide to Legal Research and Self-Help Law Books.