This book was written to help fill the need for a survey of law for the non-lawyer. It is written, as much as possible, in non-technical terms and it avoids detail in favor of main principles. It makes a determined attempt to aid understanding of legal principles by explaining, where appropriate, what the law is and how it got that way. Many illustrations are used to explain the operation of the law in commonplace terms. The basic subjects covered are the sources of law, organization and operation of the courts, legal procedure, criminal law, torts, contracts, business transactions and corporations, property law, probate law, family law, workplace law, school law, online law and media law. A glossary explains many technical terms the layperson is likely to encounter.
The reader should bear in mind that this book is not a definitive work on the law. Some areas of the law are not discussed at all, and most others are not discussed in great detail. The discussions that are included touch only the high spots. The inclusion of too much material or detail would defeat the book’s main purpose. Further, some interpretations of the law contained in this book may be unintentionally misleading or erroneous. The law is constantly changing; the law today may not be the law tomorrow.
Even assuming that such a work could be written, this book is not intended as a complete, how-to manual on the law. Neither the Ohio State Bar Association nor the Ohio State Bar Foundation provides legal or other professional services. This book attempts to provide a simplified overview of the law. Readers should not and cannot rely on this book when faced with a real-life legal or law-related issue. They must obtain their own information and make their own decisions. Readers should contact a lawyer when they are faced with real-life legal problems.