Steven Alan Childress

New edition for 2026, updated and expanded: The leading set of practice questions--in multiple full-length, representative exams--for the challenging Louisiana notary exam, with detailed answers. All updated to the latest format and process. Questions and answers in four separate tests plus detailed explanations for each right and wrong answer, keyed to the page of the latest official Study Guide, to help coach students for the difficult exam. This resource takes notary prep to the next level by revealing the tricks of questions and formats, tactics for the test, and the law behind it. Louisiana civil law notaries have unmatched functions, responsibilities, and opportunities but the exam has a 20% pass rate. Candidates need all the help they can get. The best prep classes and study groups recommend multiple practice questions to understand the format, content, and coverage of the actual exams the Secretary of State administers each year. Yet even the best workbooks and study aids are costly but barebones in the answers they provide. Their questions help, but students are left matching answers to page numbers. There's no guidance on why they are right and even less about why other good options aren't best. This book fills that void with 151 questions and detailed clarifications, plus tactics illustrated by specific formats and options. Explanations are keyed in detail to the 2026 Study Guide (usable on any 2026 exam and later, even 2027). Prof. Childress, author of a bestselling supplemental book decoding the state study guide and co-teacher of the leading remote classes in notary law, explains every twist he can think of that the examiners may try. Whether as a recommended supplement to a prep class (not just his), as spelled-out lagniappe to available workbooks, or as a detailed tool for self-study, this book should become standard fare for anyone contemplating becoming a commissioned notary. An affordable addition to the Sherpa Series from Quid Pro Books. Steven Alan Childress is a senior professor of law at Tulane University who also co-teaches remote education courses in notary law.

ALL-NEW 2026 EDITION of the best-selling notary prep guide to the challenging Louisiana exam. The Louisiana Notary Exam averages a 20% pass rate. The Notary Exam has an official Study Guide you use during the exam. But the Study Guide has no index, no big picture, no study strategies, no exam-day tips, not enough cross-references . . . and few of the forms notaries use that they test. It's notoriously hard to follow. It doesn't explain most-tested subjects, past exams, or recent changes. It's got the law and notary rules, but it's missing essentials for any such textbook. The Sidepiece has all that and much more that anyone contemplating the exam should read. It even includes crucial information about notary practice for the newbie notary, and is useful to experienced notaries for its expanded cross-references, complete index, and summary lists. Basically it's the rest of the official Study Guide they somehow omitted. Why would they leave out the index, of all things? Reminder: a 20% pass rate. Previous editions of this resource earned hundreds of 5-star ratings and comments that it's "essential" and "invaluable" to passing the exam, whether or not you take a prep class too. Read the reviews to get the scope, coverage, and necessity of adding this book into your study program. "The author's tips on what to expect on test day were worth the cost of the book alone. Get. This. Book." As a senior law teacher and member of two state bars, Prof. Childress still needed to pass the Louisiana Notary Exam to practice as one. It's a challenging exam for everyone, yet he found in the 'Study Guide' lots of trees but little forest--and even less real guidance. Determined that current test-takers can do better with more real help, he wrote this book and geared the page numbers including an index, cross-references, lists, and illustrated explanation of successions, community property, and authentic acts to the latest edition of the state's official text, Fundamentals of Louisiana Notarial Law and Practice. An affordable addition to the Sherpa Series from Quid Pro Books. Quality trade paperback edition.

NEW 2025 EDITION of the best-selling notary prep guide to the challenging Louisiana exam. The Louisiana Notary Exam averages a 20% pass rate. The Notary Exam has an official Study Guide you use during the exam. But the Study Guide has no index, no big picture, no study strategies, no exam-day tips, not enough cross-references . . . and few of the forms notaries use that they test. It's notoriously hard to follow. It doesn't explain most-tested subjects, past exams, or recent changes. It's got the law and notary rules, but it's missing essentials for any such textbook. The Sidepiece has all that and much more that anyone contemplating the exam should read. It even includes crucial information about notary practice for the newbie notary, and is useful to experienced notaries for its expanded cross-references, complete index, and summary lists. Basically it's the rest of the official Study Guide they somehow omitted. Why would they leave out the index, of all things? Reminder: a 20% pass rate. Previous editions of this resource earned 250 5-star ratings and comments that it's "essential" and "invaluable" to passing the exam, whether or not you take a prep class too. Read the reviews to get the scope, coverage, and necessity of adding this book into your study program. "The author's tips on what to expect on test day were worth the cost of the book alone. Get. This. Book." As a senior law teacher and member of two state bars, Prof. Childress still needed to pass the Louisiana Notary Exam to practice as one. It's a challenging exam for everyone, yet he found in the 'Study Guide' lots of trees but little forest--and even less real guidance. Determined that current test-takers can do better with more real help, he wrote this book and geared the page numbers including an index, cross-references, lists, and illustrated explanation of successions, community property, and authentic acts to the latest edition of the state's official text, Fundamentals of Louisiana Notarial Law and Practice. An affordable addition to the Sherpa Series from Quid Pro Books, this book actually pays for itself and more with its 'one weird trick' saying how to save $65 in fees in the notary qualification process.

New edition in 2025, explaining the state's all-new testing rules, process, and exam format: a fully updated version of this much-read introduction to the office of Notary Public. Louisiana civil law notaries enjoy functions, responsibilities, and earning potential unmatched in any other state and reserved there to attorneys. Louisiana notaries wield the power not just to verify signatures but also to create the legal papers they notarize, including affidavits, donations, powers of attorney, and even wills and trusts. And so much more, with no educational requirement beyond high school ... but a state exam that is famously challenging. The entire process to become a notary is difficult, and wrapped in some mystery. This book is helpful if you're in the beginning stages of becoming a notary public. Or just thinking about joining the profession. It's about the process of registering to be a notary, and why you'd want to. It's about the classes, books, resources, and options available to prep for the exam. This is not a study guide to the test s content itself. Other books do that, including the best-selling 'Sidepiece' guide also by Prof. Childress. But it does explain the format of the exam and the structure of questions so that a candidate knows how to start studying. This is especially crucial in 2025 as the state transitions to a new process and format. Previously, no one had offered a guide to the preliminary but confusing steps you take to be eligible for the exam or rules and tips you'd want to know right away about the exam process and its "open book." Website information can be unclear and incomplete, without disclosing the realities. This book is about what you wish someone told you from Day One when considering becoming a notary in Louisiana. An affordable addition to the Sherpa Series from Quid Pro Books. Trade paperback format.

More than 170 forms and exemplars useful in dozens of legal and notarial contexts - annotated with helpful introductions and notes to clarify how to apply the law to the forms, and what the various clauses mean. There's long been a need for an affordable, comprehensive collection of forms and examples applicable to Louisiana civil law. Attorney and notary alike want access to valid, up-to-date, and adaptable forms for a wide variety of legal and notarial acts and documents. Previous volumes have cost as much as $956 in paperback - not very accessible to small notary and law practices Collections of forms sold by organizations and practitioners are a good start but not necessarily complete, formatted or kept current. And using AI for Louisiana law is an invitation to malpractice. It hasn't been easy to confect valid acts unless they are stitched together like Frankenstein. This resource fills the gap and addresses the need for readily available forms, and adds explanations as well. And it is the only volume of forms simultaneously released with downloadable, formatted Word files to digitally adapt to any client's situation. The authors are practicing Louisiana notaries who also hold law licenses in Louisiana (Michele Childress) and California & D. C. (Steven Alan Childress). They previously published the best-selling guides to preparing for the notary exam: Michele wrote a simplified but comprehensive outline of the official state text, and Alan wrote the essential Sidepiece book of strategies for taking the exam, as well as a volume of practice exams. Together they teach the state's leading remote-online seminars on notary law and starting a practice. Forms cover such subjects as testaments and successions, power of attorney, dozens of affidavits, real estate transfers, donations, motor vehicle sales, public inventory, appearance clauses, acknowledgments, and family law. The newest addition to the Sherpa Series from Quid Pro Books, in a library-quality hardcover edition.

More than 170 forms and exemplars useful in dozens of legal contexts - annotated with helpful introductions and notes to clarify how to apply the law to the forms, and what the various clauses mean. There's long been a need for an affordable and comprehensive collection of forms and examples applicable to Louisiana civil law. Attorney and notary alike want access to valid, up-to-date, and adaptable forms for a wide variety of legal and notarial acts and documents. Previous volumes have cost as much as $956 in paperback - not very accessible to small notary and law practices Collections of forms sold by organizations and practitioners are a good start but not necessarily complete, formatted or kept current. And using AI for Louisiana law is an invitation to malpractice. It hasn't been easy to draft valid acts unless they are stitched together like Frankenstein's monster. This resource fills the gap and addresses the need for readily available forms, and adds explanations as well. And it is the only volume of forms simultaneously released with downloadable, formatted Word files to digitally adapt to any client's situation, available at the authors' website. The authors are experienced, practicing Louisiana notaries who also hold law licenses in Louisiana (Michele) and California & D. C. (Alan). They previously published the best-selling guides to preparing for the notary exam: Michele wrote a simplified but comprehensive outline of the official state text, and Alan wrote the essential Sidepiece book of strategies for taking the exam, as well as a volume of practice exams. Together they teach the state's leading remote-online seminars on notary law and starting a practice. Forms cover such subjects as testaments and successions, power of attorney, dozens of affidavits, real estate transfers, donations, motor vehicle sales, public inventory, appearance clauses, acknowledgments, and family law. The newest addition to the Sherpa Series from Quid Pro Books.

NEW EDITION FOR 2024, keyed to the current Study Guide's page numbers: Questions and answers in four separate tests-plus detailed explanations for each right and wrong answer, referencing the latest official state Study Guide-help coach students for the difficult exam. This independent resource at last takes notary prep to the next level by revealing the tricks of questions and formats, tactics for the test, and the law behind it. More generally, it serves as a master class in answering multiple choice questions and tackling tricky exams. Louisiana civil law notaries have unmatched functions, responsibilities, and opportunities-but the exam averages a 20% pass rate. Candidates need all the help they can get. The best prep classes and study groups recommend multiple practice questions to understand the format, content, and coverage of the actual exams the Secretary of State administers each year. Yet even the best workbooks and study aids are costly but barebones in the answers they provide. Their questions help, but students are left matching answers to page numbers. There's no guidance on why they're right-and even less about why other good options aren't "best." This book fills that void with 130 questions and detailed clarifications, plus tactics illustrated by specific formats and options. Explanations are keyed in detail to the 2024 Fundamentals (state study guide). Dr. Childress, author of a best-selling supplemental book decoding the state study guide and teacher of Tulane's undergraduate course in notary law, explains every twist he can think of that the examiners may try. Whether as a recommended supplement to a prep class, as spelled-out lagniappe to other available workbooks, or as a new tool for self-study, this workbook should become standard fare for anyone contemplating becoming a commissioned notary. An affordable addition to the Sherpa Series from Quid Pro Books.

NEW EDITION FOR 2024 Updates and expands the previous edition, and is keyed to the current state study guide (2024). The Louisiana Notary Public exam is based on a 722-page study guide, Fundamentals of Louisiana Notarial Law and Practice. But the official book is famously difficult to read and organized in a complex way. Readers often need help - including classes and Facebook groups - just to unwind it. This book is, at last, directly aimed at simplifying and outlining the study guide itself. Such a resource offers a better chance of passing the notoriously challenging notary exam. Law school classes and bar exam prep have long given law students the advantage of complete outlines, nutshells, and bar review materials authored by experts in their subjects. It's time for this concept to be used for notary prep as well. Applying the tried-and-true outlining format successfully employed for bar review, experienced lawyer-notary Michele Childress offers this resource for aspiring Louisiana notaries - whether they're prepping by self-study or as part of organized coursework. A new addition - now in its third trade paperback edition - to the Sherpa Series from Quid Pro Books, this book joins the Sidepiece and Sample Questions texts as affordable guidance in the journey to becoming a commissioned notary in our state. Attorney and notary public for the state of Louisiana, Michele Childress is a graduate of Loyola University-New Orleans and its law school. She also co-teaches internet seminars on passing the challenging Louisiana notary exam.

New edition in 2023-2024: a fully updated version of this much-read introduction to the office of Notary Public. Louisiana civil law notaries enjoy functions, responsibilities, and earning potential unmatched in any other state - and reserved there to attorneys. Louisiana notaries wield the power not just to verify signatures but also to create the legal papers they notarize, including affidavits, donations, powers of attorney, and even wills and trusts. And so much more, with no educational requirement beyond high school ... but a state exam that is famously challenging. The entire process to become a notary is difficult, and wrapped in some mystery. This book is helpful if you're in the beginning stages of becoming a notary public. Or just thinking about joining the profession. It's about the process of registering to be a notary, and why you'd want to. It's about the classes, books, resources, and options available to prep for the exam. It's not a study guide to the test's content itself. Other books do that, including the best-selling Sidepiece guide also by Prof. Childress of Tulane. But it does explain the format of the exam and the structure of questions so that a candidate knows how to start studying. Previously, no one had offered a guide to the preliminary but confusing steps you take to be eligible for the exam - or rules and tips you'd want to know right away about the exam process and its "open book." Website information can be unclear and incomplete, without disclosing the realities. This book is about "what I wish someone told me from Day One when I was considering becoming a notary in Louisiana." An affordable addition to the Self-Study Sherpa Series from Quid Pro Books.

NEW FOR 2023, keyed to the current Study Guide's page numbers: Questions and answers in four separate tests-plus detailed explanations for each right and wrong answer, referencing the latest official state Study Guide-help coach students for the difficult exam. This independent resource at last takes notary prep to the next level by revealing the tricks of questions and formats, tactics for the test, and the law behind it. More generally, it serves as a master class in answering multiple choice questions and tackling tricky exams. Louisiana civil law notaries have unmatched functions, responsibilities, and opportunities-but the exam averages a 20% pass rate. Candidates need all the help they can get. The best prep classes and study groups recommend multiple practice questions to understand the format, content, and coverage of the actual exams the Secretary of State administers each year. Yet even the best workbooks and study aids are costly but barebones in the answers they provide. Their questions help, but students are left matching answers to page numbers. There's no guidance on why they're right-and even less about why other good options aren't "best." This book fills that void with 130 questions and detailed clarifications, plus tactics illustrated by specific formats and options. Explanations are keyed in detail to the 2023 Fundamentals (state study guide). Dr. Childress, author of a best-selling supplemental book decoding the state study guide and teacher of Tulane's undergraduate course in notary law, explains every twist he can think of that the examiners may try. Whether as a recommended supplement to a prep class, as spelled-out lagniappe to other available workbooks, or as a new tool for self-study, this workbook should become standard fare for anyone contemplating becoming a commissioned notary. An affordable addition to the Self-Study Sherpa Series from Quid Pro Books.

NEW 2023 EDITION of the best-selling notary prep guide to the challenging Louisiana exam ... keyed to the green 2023 state Study Guide. The Louisiana Notary Exam averages a 20% pass rate. The Notary Exam has an official Study Guide you use during the exam. But the Study Guide has no index, no big picture, no study strategies, no exam-day tips, not enough cross-references . . . and few of the forms notaries use that they test. It's notoriously hard to follow. It doesn't explain most-tested subjects, past exams, or recent changes. It's got the law and notary rules, but it's missing essentials for any such textbook. The Sidepiece has all that-and much more that anyone contemplating the exam should read. It even includes crucial information about notary practice for the newbie notary, and is useful to experienced notaries for its expanded cross-references, complete index, and summary lists. Basically it's the rest of the official Study Guide they somehow omitted. Why would they leave out the index, of all things? Reminder: a 20% pass rate. Previous editions of this resource earned 150 5-star ratings and comments that it's "essential" and "invaluable" to passing the exam, whether or not you take a prep class too. Read the reviews to get the scope, coverage, and necessity of adding this book into your study program. "The author's tips on what to expect on test day were worth the cost of the book alone. Get. This. Book." As a senior law teacher and member of two state bars, Prof. Childress still needed to pass the Louisiana Notary Exam to practice as one. It's a challenging exam for everyone, yet he found in the 'Study Guide' lots of trees but little forest-and even less real guidance. Determined that current test-takers can do better with more real help, he wrote this book and geared the page numbers-including an index, cross-references, lists, and illustrated explanation of successions, community property, and authentic acts-to the latest edition of the state's official text, Fundamentals of Louisiana Notarial Law and Practice. An affordable addition to the Self-Study Sherpa Series from Quid Pro Books, this book actually pays for itself twice over with its 'one weird trick' saying how to save $65 in fees in the notary qualification process.

Warning: Other publishers' versions purport to be the full report but omit the footnotes or appendix, or use poor print to squeeze into one volume; if theirs is less than 845 pages, it's not complete. We solve that by breaking it into two volumes. Properly sized in manageable book form, but retaining the pagination of the original -- its readability as a true book (and not just a governmental memo) is enhanced by breaking the total report into two parts. This edition is for those taking the report seriously as current events and as history . . . as an accumulation of evidence and conclusions worth reading in its own right. Yet the Quid Pro edition's accurate pagination, rather than reformatting into a smaller footprint or illegible print, retains its ability to be cited and referenced, and no razor-thin pages. The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol was formed July 1, 2021. It reviewed over a million documents and interviewed over a thousand witnesses. Its composition was bipartisan, albeit not in the way GOP leadership had proposed (as discussed in Prof. Childress's Foreword), and many of its hearings were public. The product of its investigation is this historic and detailed report. This edition by Quid Pro Books divides the report roughly in half, for ease of presentation. This Part 1 includes the new Foreword, detailed introductory material by the Select Committee including its "executive summary," and pages 1-372 (including chapters 1-3) of the committee's final report. Part 2 excerpts pages 373-815, beginning with chapter 4, ending with recommendations and four appendices. The reader is advised to obtain both volumes. Quid Pro Books is an academic publisher of classic and contemporary nonfiction books on law, history, political science, and sociology, and is the ebook publisher of leading law journals from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and the University of Chicago. The Foreword is authored by Steven Alan Childress, a senior professor of law at Tulane University. He earned a PhD in Jurisprudence & Social Policy from Berkeley and his JD from Harvard Law School; he is the coauthor of the three-volume treatise Federal Standards of Review (Lexis-Nexis, 4th ed. 2010), and the editor of an annotated edition of Holmes's The Common Law (Quid Pro, 2010).

The only published edition of this important report printed in normal-size pages rather than letter-size memo format, to be readable as a manageable paperback; yet it retains the original pagination. This is the top-line findings and principal supporting evidence found in the House Select Committee's official "Introductory Material" report. It was issued on December 19, 2022, in anticipation of the Final Report's release December 22. The committee's summary recounts details of the shocking and deadly attack on the U. S. Capitol building and its occupants on January 6, 2021. The author (set out more fully) is the "House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol," of the United States House of Representatives. The Select Committee released this introductory report on December 19. It is entitled in the media (and by the committee itself in its URL of the released PDF) as an "Executive Summary" of the final report, though it is far more complete and supported in citations than are most such summaries (at 154 pages even with large pages). This report is presented here in book form, using a smaller but normal page-size, to ease its use in reading and shelving compared to the letter-paged original. The pagination is maintained and the font is legible. Other than resizing and binding as a book, and the addition of the new foreword, this is an exact printing of the released introductory report -- meant to add value by publishing it in a manageable paperback format, rather than an ungainly memo. The "House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol" was formed July 1, 2021. It reviewed over a million documents and interviewed over a thousand witnesses. Its multiple hearings produced witnesses and videos revealing behind-the-scenes evidence not publicly known as the world watched in horror the day of the attack. The Quid Pro edition adds a contemporaneous Foreword by Steven Alan Childress, a senior law professor at Tulane University Law School and coauthor of the three-volume legal treatise Federal Standards of Review. In it, he analyzes the historic import of the report and its criminal referrals, the issue of "bipartisanship," and the evidence-law concept of "hearsay" used incorrectly by many previous critics of the committee's work. Quid Pro Books is an independent academic publisher of classic and contemporary nonfiction books on law, history, political science, and the social sciences.

NEW FOR 2022: Questions and answers in four separate tests-plus detailed explanations for each right and wrong answer, keyed to the page of the latest official state Study Guide-help coach students for the difficult exam. This unofficial resource at last takes notary prep to the next level by revealing the tricks of questions and formats, tactics for the test, and the law behind it. Louisiana civil law notaries have unmatched functions, responsibilities, and opportunities-but the exam averages a 20% pass rate. Candidates need all the help they can get. The best prep classes and study groups recommend multiple practice questions to understand the format, content, and coverage of the actual exams the Secretary of State administers each year. Yet even the best workbooks and study aids are costly but barebones in the answers they provide. Their questions help, but students are left matching answers to page numbers. There's no guidance on why they're right-and even less about why other good options aren't "best." This book fills that void with 130 questions and detailed clarifications, plus tactics illustrated by specific formats and options. Explanations are keyed in detail to the 2022 Fundamentals (state study guide). Dr. Childress, author of a best-selling supplemental book decoding the state study guide and teacher of Tulane's undergraduate course in notary law, explains every twist he can think of that the examiners may try. Whether as a recommended supplement to a prep class, as spelled-out lagniappe to other available workbooks, or as a new tool for self-study, this workbook should become standard fare for anyone contemplating becoming a commissioned notary. An affordable addition to the Self-Study Sherpa Series from Quid Pro Books, in quality trade paperback.

NEW 2022 EDITION of the best-selling notary prep guide to the difficult Louisiana exam. The Louisiana Notary Exam has a 20% pass rate. The Notary Exam has an official Study Guide you use during the exam. But the Study Guide has no index, no big picture, no study strategies, no exam-day tips, not enough cross-references . . . and few of the forms notaries use that they test. It's notoriously hard to follow. It doesn't explain most-tested subjects, past exams, or recent changes. It's got the law and notary rules, but it's missing essentials for any such textbook. The Sidepiece has all that-and much more that anyone contemplating the exam should read. It even includes crucial information about notary practice for the newbie notary, and is useful to experienced notaries for its expanded cross-references, complete index, and summary lists. Basically it's the rest of the official Study Guide they somehow omitted. Why would they leave out the index, of all things? Reminder: a 20% pass rate. Previous editions of this resource earned 150 5-star ratings and comments that it's "essential" and "invaluable" to passing the exam, whether or not you take a prep class too. Read the reviews to get the scope, coverage, and necessity of adding this book into your study program. "The author's tips on what to expect on test day were worth the cost of the book alone. Get. This. Book." As a senior law teacher and member of two state bars, Professor Childress still needed to pass the Louisiana Notary Exam to practice as one. It's a challenging exam for everyone, yet he found in the 'Study Guide' lots of trees but little forest-and even less real guidance. Determined that current test-takers can do better with more real help, he wrote this book and geared the page numbers-including an index, cross-references, lists, and illustrated explanation of successions, community property, and authentic acts-to the latest edition of the state's official text, Fundamentals of Louisiana Notarial Law and Practice. An affordable addition to the Self-Study Sherpa Series from Quid Pro Books, this book actually pays for itself twice over with its 'one weird trick' saying how to save $65 in fees in the notary qualification process.