The 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Courtroom Law

By Lynne Murray

Writers often stray from the reality of the legal system because we think we know about the law from watching television and movies and reading mystery novels. Unfortunately many dramatizations of criminal investigations and legal proceedings more closely resemble The Three Stooges slapstick reel Disorder in the Court than any real world legal proceeding. I am not a lawyer, but I have spent the past three decades processing legal documents and researching legal details in order to get them right in the murder mysteries I've written. Law is all about conflict and a little research can yield some great plot ammunition, while blithely committing the worst blunders about the law that can get popcorn thrown at the screen or your book thrown across the room by otherwise mild-mannered lawyers and paralegals.

• Language: English
• Publisher: A Conspiracy of Authors
• Release date: Nov 17, 2011
• ISBN: 9781936507115

Lynne Murray

In 1973, Lynne Murray just happened to take a proofreading job at what was then the largest law firm in San Francisco. Little did she know that the firm would contribute many plot twists and a couple of murder victims to her first mystery, Termination Interview (St. Martin's Press 1988), wherein a personnel director is thrown out a 12th-story window at a huge stuffy law firm. Fascinated with the ins and outs of the law, Lynne found that the big firms needed 24/7 word processing. That was the ideal job for someone who needed to work weird hours to support her fiction writing habit. She has typed every sort of legal document, and transcribed tapes from police interrogations and FBI surveillance to court hearings. Lynne lives in San Francisco. She has had a total of eight novels published and collaborated on a humorous e-book of encouragement for writers.

Book preview

About the Author

In 1973, Lynne Murray just happened to take a proofreading job at what was then the largest law firm in San Francisco. Little did she know that the firm would contribute many plot twists and a couple of murder victims to her first mystery, Termination Interview (St. Martin's Press 1988), wherein a personnel director is thrown out a 12th-story window at a huge stuffy law firm. Fascinated with the ins and outs of the law, Lynne found that the big firms needed 24/7 word processing. That was the ideal job for someone who needed to work weird hours to support her fiction writing habit. She has typed every sort of legal document, and transcribed tapes from police interrogations and FBI surveillance to court hearings. Lynne lives in San Francisco. She has had a total of eight novels published and collaborated on a humorous e-book of encouragement for writers.

* My email: [e-mail]

* My website: http://www.lmurray.com/

* My website: http://www.maadwomen.com/ticklesisters/index.html

Table of Contents

The 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Courtroom Law

About the Author

Dedication

Introduction

Mistake One

Mistake Two

Mistake Three

Mistake Four

Mistake Five

Mistake Six

Mistake Seven

Mistake Eight

Mistake Nine

Mistake Ten

Mistake Eleven

Mistake Twelve

Mistake Thirteen

Mistake Fourteen

Mistake Fifteen

Mistake Sixteen

Mistake Seventeen

Mistake Eighteen

Mistake Nineteen

Mistake Twenty

Mistake Twenty-One

Mistake Twenty-Two

Mistake Twenty-Three

Mistake Twenty-Four

Mistake Twenty-Five

Mistake Twenty-Six

Mistake Twenty-Seven

Mistake Twenty-Eight

Mistake Twenty-Nine

Mistake Thirty

Mistake Thirty-One

Mistake Thirty-Two

Mistake Thirty-Three

Conclusion

Welcome to A Conspiracy of Authors

Dedication

To Charles W. Powell, JD

Acknowledments

I very much appreciate the knowledge and experience shared by my legally sophisticated friends Ann Reasoner, a paralegal with 24 years of experience, and Jaqueline Girdner, who has practiced law and written mysteries, though not both at the same time. Particular thanks to Holly Lisle for the inspiration, hope and some excellent writing tools.

Introduction

"It ain't what you