THE FAMILY LEGAL COMPANION

Q & A legal advice with a homey touch, drawn from the author's monthly legal column in McCall's, and intended to ""make you more aware of your legal rights and how to enforce them."" Hauser covers a lot of territory (employment, home ownership, landlord/ tenant, family law, consumer rights, wills, personal injury, financial matters, insurance, social security) with a brief excursion in neighborhood crimes (shoplifting, harrassing phone calls, etc.) and is best suggesting ways to deal with problems more formal legal sources may omit--your child is suspended from school over his style of dress; a neighbor's dog threatens your garden with imminent destruction. He's also got a wealth of suggestions for getting local, state and federal agencies to do your legal work for you. The Q & A format has its limitations, however--breach of an implied warranty is basically the same, whether the goods are a blouse or some landscaping, and too many of his answers begin with"" it depends"" (variations in state law make this inevitable) and end with the suggestion of small claims court. (Is this really good advice when your problem involves someone you'll be living next door to for the next 20 years?)Not a bad book to begin with if Hauser hits your particular problem; otherwise, Harnett's more systematic Put the Law on Your Side (above) might be a better place to start.