* 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 ╱ 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔

12/2021 update !! at this point i have completed my first semester of law school and recently went over this guide again (i had written it as a senior in college); it’s still tried and true !

note: these are all based off of american laws bc i know nothing about international laws, but with a tweak to a google search it shouldn’t be hard to find the equivalent for another country !

now let’s begin !  °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

key terms before we really get started that are good to know:

legalese: yes, this is an actual word. it basically means the jargon/language of the legal world legal specialty area/practice: this means the area of law an attorney specializes in. for example, one attorney might specialize in criminal law, and another one might practice corporate law. specialize and practice can be used interchangeably attorney/lawyer: these terms are interchangeable, but attorney is used more often than lawyer esq.: short for esquire. it’s basically the title that goes behind an attorney’s name in documents. so for example: miranda hobbes, esq. paralegal: the legal assistant to an attorney. you have to be qualified for this job, which can come by way of passing an online course to specifically become a paralegal, or going to school for it criminal law: involves prosecutors and defense attorneys, in most cases a jury, and really isn’t as dramatic as tv likes to portray it as but it certainly can be. it’s a lot harder to prove criminal cases as a prosecutor than it is to prove a civil case ( bc of a thing called burden of proof that u can google if ur curious ). punishment for the accused in a criminal case is jail time civil law: encompasses literally every other area of law that’s not criminal law. there are no prosecutors or defense attorneys in civil law, that’s exclusively for criminal law. punishment for the defendant in civil law comes in the form of damages, which are mostly monetary. aka pay up, buck lsat: law school admission test. you literally can’t get into law school unless you take this and get a high enough score ( ranges from 120-180 and no, the test has absolutely nothing to do with your knowledge of the law. it tests you on logic ). if you’re kim k, this does not apply offender: someone who commits an illegal act, but they might not be in jail for it yet detainee: a person who’s held in custody jail vs. prison: jail is more so for minor crimes or where people who are awaiting their trial are held. prison is for the serious crimes and comes with longer sentences bail: basically the amount of money assigned to someone awaiting trial, all based on their crimes. it's not a fine and it’s not a punishment; it’s supposed to be used as a way to ensure the defendant will appear for court, but mostly it’s used by rich folk to pay their way out of having to actually appear in trial. bail is complicated honestly, so i recommend doing a little google research to get a stronger grasp on it recidivism: the chances of someone committing a crime again. someone with a high recidivism rate is more likely to commit a crime than someone with a low recidivism rate elements: also known as the prima facie ( a lot of legal terms are in latin, btw ). to be found guilty of a crime or liable of a tort ( which means a civil wrongdoing ), you have to have met all the elements. for example, for someone to be found guilty of robbery, they have to have met all the elements of that crime. these elements are (1) the taking of property of another, (2) from that person’s presence, (3) by violence, intimidation, or threat, and (4) with the intent to do so ( taken from justia on google ). if even one of these elements are not met, then the person didn’t commit robbery. to find out the elements of a specific crime you want to apply to something, just google “ elements of _____ ” degrees: most crimes have different level of degrees, which basically means different level of actions and their subsequent seriousness. the elements of each degree of a crime will differ from each other. for example, what someone does to be convicted of 1st degree assault is different than what someone does to be convicted of 3rd degree assault suing vs. pressing charges: suing is done in civil court. pressing charges is done in criminal court. you sue for loss wages, you press charges for arson

writing an attorney !

personality: not all attorneys are cutthroat doodoo heads, but as my friends and i like to say, there’s a reason why lawyer and liar sound similar. fr though, it’s a v common trope to have attorneys portrayed as cunning people, but this isn’t something that has to be adhered to ! you all know how elle woods was, i’m sure. and i’ve met plenty of attorneys who are actual sweethearts – you only really have to be somewhat fierce when you’re in the courtroom, but even then that just depends on the person you are and what case you’re arguing. no need to be that aggressive if you’re a tax attorney, y’know ? feel more than free to write sensitive attorneys, attorneys who bond with their clients rather than see them as a paycheck, attorneys who get overwhelmed, attorneys who get sad, etc !

education & age: when writing a character who is an attorney, their age doesn’t really matter as long as they’re not too young. to put it into perspective, you need to complete your undergrad first ( ofc, though, this might take less time for some ppl who r really smart ). what you major in doesn’t really matter when applying to law school, but common majors seen are english, history, criminal justice, and pre-law. an example of the route a future attorney will take ( and what i’m personally doing ) is taking the lsats your junior/senior year of undergrad and then going to law school the fall semester after you finish undergrad. but everyone’s different and law school is mad expensive, so some people might take a year off or more to work in the field and get experience before taking the lsats and going to law school, and some people might have an entirely different job for a number of years before deciding to go to law school. law school is 3 years, you typically can’t work your first year (because the reading load is very intense -- manageable but definitely intense), and the students are called 1Ls, 2Ls, and 3Ls based on their year. when you graduate law school you get your juris doctor and there’s now a JD after your name, but you then have to then pass the bar of the state you wanna practice in, where you’re basically being tested on all that state’s laws. you can’t practice or work as an attorney until you’ve passed the bar.

the specialty areas: bc there’s more than just criminal law, i promise. there are literally so many areas of law an attorney can specialize in, and some of these areas dictate whether they’re actually in court arguing in front of a jury or not ( bc some law is v mediation and negotiation based rather than trial based ). if you google “ list of legal speciality areas ” you’ll find a ton, but some examples of other areas of practice include environmental law, employment law, family law, bankruptcy law, adoption law, constitutional law, elder law, music law, copyright law, medical law, etc. there’s literally so many areas that could fit so many muses and their personalities !

the workload: lawyers work a lot, but i don’t think anyone doubted that. they don’t just go to trial though. a lot of work attorneys do involves meeting with clients, reviewing body camera/interview footage, doing this thing called legal research ( which is basically figuring out if there’s applicable case law or any statutes that can help someone’s position ), writing up legal documents to send to either opposing counsel ( the attorneys you’re going against ) or the judge ( and these documents include things like memorandums of law, requests for discovery, interrogation forms, etc. ), drafting opening/closing statements or direct/cross examinations of witnesses, and gathering evidence. some attorneys don’t even go to trial at all because the case doesn’t ever need to get to that point. there’s also a lot of mediation meetings an attorney can conduct. most of the time a lawyer will have a paralegal or an intern to help them with these things, but more so the paperwork side of it all.

the pay: it’s not all big bucks your first day as an attorney, but lawyers still get paid a considerable amount even when first entering the field. even then, though, this is also dependent on what state they’re working in ( bc someone in new york will make way more than someone in south dakota, regardless of field ), if they’re at a small law firm or a huge one or they work for the government or a celebrity, and what area they’re practicing in. lawyers can either get paid on a contingency based payment, or a retainer based payment, and both involve hourly billing. contingency means an attorney will get their cut of payment only if they win their case. retainer payments are when the attorney is paid by the client before the case even really begins, basically guaranteeing that they’re getting paid just for being hired and regardless of the outcome. any work at all an attorney does on a case goes to their paycheck – even literally just googling “ is there case law about this topic ” counts as work, and that is added to their timesheet. this is basically called billing your hours, and the client pays for the amount of work an attorney does. specific fee amounts obv vary.

writing a character who commits crimes !

the crimes itself: some crimes exist in some states that don’t exist in others. some crimes might have different elements than are in others. do some research ! i definitely encourage taking a close, analytical look at your muse and really figuring out what type of person they are and what crime would be something they’d realistically do. for example, i once played an oc who hated his negligent mother, but he had a pretty normal heart so i knew he could never do anything super extreme, so i had him commit arson by burning down the trailer she lived in as a sort of bitter revenge. some crimes can be done out of self defense, of course, and there are legal exceptions for when some is forced into a crime. a crime you could use for a more timid, unsure muse could be accessory either before or after the fact, meaning they either helped with the planning or helped with the escape. and then obviously when a juvenile commits a crime, there are lesser punishments and typically more sympathy regarded, unless the crime was really serious. there’s also white collar crimes, which deal less so with hacks and saws and more so with money and businesses. when writing a character who committed a crime once or does this actively, definitely look up the elements of that crime ( as discussed earlier ). even though you really don’t have to be all that accurate because you’re just writing, if you want to take it seriously then that’s a great research method to do that’ll make it that more real. you can also look up some articles on criminology and the psychology behind certain actions to help find something that’ll fit for your character !

the punishment: it’s smart to google what the sentence for a specific crime might be, but what a lot of people don’t do is apply it to the state their character is in / the state the crime was committed in. if you’re wondering what the punishment for your character would be if they were to get tried for what they’ve done, 1. figure out what state they committed it in or what state they reside in, and 2. google “ how much time for [crime] in [state]. ” note above in the key terms that there’s a difference between being in jail and being in prison, and a lot of crimes and their sentences will dictate whether your character goes into one or the other. don’t forget bail, even though i think the bail system is stupid and corrupt and makes it easier for rich people to get off and harder for less fortunate people to get off.

the aftermath options: like i’ve been saying, there’s jail and there’s prison. there’s also community service, if a judge decides to have a criminal opt for that rather than incarceration. there are also things called halfway houses, which are basically group homes for those who now have criminal records/have been released from incarceration to reside in before they’re completely thrusted back into society before they can potentially have time to regather themselves. these places are pretty cool, they usually teach the people inside handy skills to get a job or how to function back into society. besides these, there’s also parole. parole is the early release of a prisoner on the condition that they’ll abide by certain expectations set by a judge. these might be things like curfew, or agreeing to wearing an ankle monitor ( think scott lang from marvel, if ur hip ). if someone messes up their parole guidelines and breaks them, it’s back to jail / prison.

can you actually get away with it: yeah. especially if you’re a white male. if this “ offends ” you or you think it’s not true, bye. but there’s a lot of other factors that can go into why someone’s charges might be dropped, or why they might never be caught in the first place. as for the first one primarily, there could’ve been a mistrial, the person bringing forth the charge might’ve said screw it and ended it all, the accused could be acquitted, or, alternatively, they could’ve hid evidence really well or tampered with a crime scene, found a non-extradition site to jet off to ( which basically is a part of the world where they can’t be held criminally responsible for what they’ve done [but this is also dependent on the crime] somewhere else, if they’re smart about it ), or they fall off the grid. bail also can play a role in things, too. also immunity ! there’s immunity for public/governmental figures, and c*ps as we’ve seen recently. immunity can also come in a less formal way, if you know what i mean, by means of being buddies with the judge ( which is not allowed ) or having a way to intimidate or bribe the judge/jury/attorneys. if you've got the money, then you can pay your way out of it. it’s a little less realistic, yeah, but it’s definitely possible !