The 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Courtroom Law

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.