Guia Bilingue Legal Para Todos/ Bilingual Legal Guide for All

Book excerpt: Superior education can only be obtained by acquiring information. Laws are fundamental parts of our lives. Knowing them should be a requisite of basic knowledge and indispensable for each individual who lives in the United States. The primary objective of this book is to make a bilingual legal book available to all who enjoy learning and need information about the legal world: judges, lawyers, legal secretaries, law students, paralegals, students in the political sciences, employees of the court, and any individual who is interested in understanding the rights and laws of a citizen of the United States. As you know, the vocabulary used in law books, whether it is written in Spanish or English, is very technical and therefore difficult to understand. Learning law terminology can be compared to learning a foreign language. As a knowledgeable professional, I encountered these problems when I was reading various law books, and it is one of the reasons that I was motivated to write this book. When I worked at the Norwalk Superior Court in Norwalk, California, under the supervision of Mr. Edward Hinz, I was privileged to become acquainted with the various judges, district attorneys, paralegals, clerks, legal secretaries, and officers. Although I realized that most were well acquainted with English legal terminology, I also observed that many people who came to court to represent themselves in propria persona didnt know or understand the correct legal terminology to be able to present their simple cases nor could they understand how to fill out the technical forms required. I am confident that this book will be a useful resource and that it can be easily used by all who want to become familiar with legal terms in English and Spanish. This book covers nine areas of law: alternative dispute resolutions, bankruptcy, business law, criminal law, family law, juvenile procedures, probate, real estate law/landlord and tenant, and wills and trusts. The terms are presented in English and Spanish. It is organized in such a manner that every term can be easily translated and understood. Each division contains the terms that are necessary for each area of law. Obviously, individuals who are already bilingual will have an advantage. Nevertheless, those who are not bilingual but who are interested in learning legal terms in Spanish or English, for one reason or another, will benefit from this book as well.