Law is a profession of words. Law has a powerful and unique vocabulary which enables us to discuss legal issues precisely, efficiently and persuasively. The law student will never read more cases in his or her life than in law school's first year. This is the time to acquire and fix the habit of recognizing, remembering and using the law's unique vocabulary, legal nomenclature. We must cultivate habits of learning law's unique vocabulary, especially that which applies to federal law and to the state law where we practice.
All previous editions are seriously obsolete.
See the 6 th edition's Preface. Get something, and use it. The proper habit is to never let an unfamiliar legal term pass without looking it up. That is tedious at first, but quickly repays all investment. The better one adheres to this habit, the quicker and greater the return on investment.