Here is an interesting factoid for you: David Lat, editor of the blog Above the Law, is credited with coining three of the 7,500 new terms in the latest edition of Black’s Law Dictionary.

Due out Friday in its 10th edition from Thomson Reuters, Black’s is generally considered to be the most authoritative source of law-related definitions. This latest edition will have 16,000 new definitions, 900 new Latin maxims, and the most thorough backdating ever of terms to their first English usage.

What does it take to prepare a new edition of Black’s? The dictionary’s editor-in-chief, lawyer and language maven Bryan A. Garner, explains the process in this latest episode of the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer. He describes the small army of 300 professionals and scholars who worked on the update and how they went about their work.

He also discusses his views on the continuing relevance of a work such as Black’s to the daily practice of law.

Listen to this week’s program via the Soundcloud above. Read more about it and find a complete archive of past episodes at the Legal Talk NetworkNever miss an episode by subscribing to Lawyer2Lawyer in the iTunes library or via our RSS feed.

So what were the three terms coined by Lat? You’ll have to listen to the podcast to find that out.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.