MASSACHUSETTS PROCEDURAL FORMS, ANNOTATED,

1949 Revised Edition, byRobert M. Rodman, '34. Boston Law BookCompany, Boston, Massachusetts, 1058pages, $20.00.

How many times a year has the experienced lawyer shuffled through his files to find a form he once used which he hopes will serve as a framework for the declaration he is about to draw? How often have inexperienced lawyers wished they had such a file to which they might turn? A form in a similar case can and does provide impetus to the case at hand. At the least, forms provide comfort and reassurance to even the most able pleaders. There are those who condemn forms as undesirable crutches, but the fact remains that without them there is an even more undesirable gap. Mr. Rodman's work on Massachusetts Procedural Forms fills this gap and fills it well. Practically every type of form that is used in civil practice is contained in one volume, ready and available in logical order for quick reference. Mr. Rodman has painstakingly compiled the work of Massachusetts lawyers over many years into one handy text. An untold number of work hours is represented in this book.

Mr. Rodman put out his first edition of Forms in 1941 and it went out of print. The first edition was the best thing of its kind. The second edition is even better. The second edition incorporates the many statutory changes and new decisions since 1941.

Further, the new edition is no mere revision. It not only contains new chapters and sections on interrogatories, motions, descriptions of parties, declaratory judgments and miscellaneous petitions, but has added a feature very rarely seen in a form book. The author s comments and practice hints, the quotations of statutes and court rules and the thorough and complete annotations result in a work that would be of great value and assistance, even if the book contained no forms whatsoever. Not only will the user obtain aid and guidance in procedural law, but he will save time in his search for the substantive law involved in his case.

For practitioners who require an immediate authoritative answer to a question relating to Massachusetts practice and pleading, this work is a valuable and useful tool. It is a practical work based on practical problems.