EveryBody's Guide to the Law

ook in favor of plain English. And when we use a legal word or concept, we define it then and
there, so you don’t need to look it up in a glossary.
CAN YOU DO WITHOUT A LAWYER?
The threshold question in a situation involving the law is whether you can “do it yourself ”
or whether you need a lawyer to advise you on your rights or to handle the matter for you completely.
With the help of this book, you may be able to take care of many relatively minor problems
yourself by reading the appropriate chapter or chapters, then negotiating with the other person
or filing your own lawsuit in small claims court (chapter 19). But if you find that it’s more
than you can handle, or if your case involves a large amount of money, possible imprisonment,
or serious injury or death, then a lawyer is certainly required. (In chapter 24 you’ll find practical
advice on finding the right lawyer for your situation.)
Having this book in your home library is much like having a consumer’s guide to medicine.
Even with the medical guide, you wouldn’t consider treating yourself for potentially serious
problems. For some minor illnesses you may be able to treat yourself with over-the-counter
drugs, rest, fluids, and the like. But there’s always the danger that your illness is more serious
than you think or that it may worsen. In that case you need a doctor to diagnose your condition
and prescribe appropriate treatment.
The same applies to law. Only a lawyer can assess your complete “legal health,” by investigating
the facts, researching the latest developments in the law, applying his or her legal training
and experience, and then advising you of your alternatives. A good lawyer can spot the
jagged rocks that may lie below the waters of a seemingly simple dispute and can help you plan
a course of action to avoid them.
Just as you have a family doctor whom you visit not only when you have a medical condition
that needs attention but also for routine checkups to prevent medical problems, you
should have a family lawyer to consult both therapeutically and preventively. You’d be surprised
how inexpensive many legal “vaccines” are, especially compared to the costs of a legal
problem that goes untreated too long.
This book can’t take the place of a lawyer. One reason is that the law differs from state to
state—often significantly—and your rights vary accordingly. For example, in one state you may
have six years to file a lawsuit after you’ve been hurt, in another you may have three years, while
in yet another you may have only one year. (And if the government is at fault, you may have to
file a claim with the appropriate agency within as few as sixty days or six months of the incident.)
Even adjoining states may have fundamental differences in their laws concerning divorces, wills,
real estate law, and small claims court procedures. There simply isn’t enough space in this book to
provide a state-by-state rundown of every law discussed in the following pages.
Introduction x