hen I speak at writers’ conferences about how to use the law in stories, the first reaction I usually get from anyone other than mystery/thriller writers is: “But the law doesn’t apply to my story.”

Yet the law is everywhere. From the second they wake up in the morning, the law touches everything your characters do. Your romantic heroine brushes her teeth when she wakes up. Does her toothpaste have toxic chemicals in it from China or is it safe? Your literary fiction main character drives to work in a car that doesn’t explode when hit from behind thanks to civil lawyers. He goes to work, and because of employment laws is paid wages and overtime and isn’t subjected to discrimination. Or does everything go terribly awry despite the law?

The claims characters can make are almost infinite. Anything that can go wrong for them could end up as a court case. Whether your character is in an accident, faces discrimination in the workplace, or is in a relationship gone sour, the law can offer a slight plot twist or an entire plotline. You think the law doesn’t affect your character? Think again.

The law can also provide characters who can observe things in your stories. And of course, murder victims. Let’s discuss some of the ways law can help your stories, some legal-type characters who are useful if you need an observer to any event, and some folks who just may need killing.

How the Law can be Used to Enhance Any Story

As previously mentioned, the law affects every character. Here are some more ways, by genre.

Romance writers: Your characters come from a background that affects the way they view romantic relationships. If they’re divorced, do they have custody or visitation of their children? Is the case still in court? If the characters’ parents are divorced, the nature of the divorce could color their view of romance. In another plot, dating can turn to stalking, and stalking can turn into an injunction hearing. Maybe that’s where your heroine meets Mr. Right. Is your character dating someone from work? He’ll encounter sexual harassment laws or anti-nepotism policies. In The Mentalist, the boss made two characters choose between transferring away from each other or breaking up. In Dexter, two characters pretended to break up yet are still together, violating their employer’s policy.

Children’s and young adult writers: Are the parents dead or divorced? Most kid lit authors write about characters who have an absent parent or two. Which parent makes the decisions relating to the child, or do they both make the decisions? Where does your character live and with whom? All these issues can add depth to your character as well as angst, conflict, and relationship issues in the novel. If Bella’s parents weren’t divorced, she wouldn’t have moved to Forks, Washington in Twilight. If one or more parents are killed, did the main character inherit anything? Is there life insurance? The Series of Unfortunate Events book series is related to issues of custody and inheritance.

Sci-fi and horror: Your story involves world building. What rights do the monsters or aliens have? The True Blood/Southern Vampire series deals with the supernaturals’ rights, which are to own property, marry, and work. Is your world just or unjust? Are the courts and law enforcement fair or biased? Star Trek used court proceedings a fair amount of time, including in the pilot of the original series.

Comedy: The Wedding Crashers started with a mediation scene. Juno used collaborative law in a scene. And who can forget My Cousin Vinny? Whether you make fun of the court system or use it to establish your characters’ personalities or situations, the law can come in handy even in comedy.

Which Characters from the Law Make Great Observers or Witnesses?

Some people operating in the legal system move around, whether in the courtroom or in the outside world, and have enough information that they might be useful to your stories. Here are five common helpful observers or witnesses. (More types are included in my book, The Writer’s Guide to the Courtroom: Let’s Quill All the Lawyers.)

• Bailiffs keep order in the court. They see and hear everything that goes on, so it’s their job to observe. As characters, they can be witnesses, blackmailers, or heroes. Maybe they overhear jurors calling home to check the Internet about the case. Or they witness the prosecutor accepting a bribe.
• Runners and messengers make deliveries for the attorneys. This puts them in a place where they can move around and observe the activities of your characters. Did they deliver flowers to a couple having an affair? Did they take the package of incriminating tapes home instead of delivering them?
• Process servers hand official documents to people who don’t want them. Maybe they see the character having an affair, or they witness an accident while they’re delivering papers. Having a character who moves around a lot, who is observant, and who may have a law enforcement background could come in handy in your story, couldn’t it?
• A court reporter’s job is to listen to every word of every legal proceeding she covers and record it accurately. Court reporters are almost invisible, which makes them great witnesses. During breaks, lawyers and witnesses forget they’re even there. Court reporters hear all kinds of things they probably shouldn’t.
• Paralegals assist lawyers, prepare documents, and interview clients and witnesses. They may know about bribes, malpractice by the attorney, or perjury. Maybe they were instructed to shred documents. Remember the paralegal character in The Riches? She found out Doug Rich may not be who or what he said he was.

So, next time you say the law can’t help with your story, think about characters whom you need to observe something. It doesn’t have to be a murder. Characters who are in a position to observe are handy in any type of story.

Who Might Your Murderer Want to Kill Off (Besides Lawyers)?

If you’re writing a murder mystery, you need a victim. Who gets killed and why are central to your story. Everybody knows the first thing you do is kill all the lawyers (at least if you want to overthrow a government, as was the context of Shakespeare’s quote). So I won’t bore you with why lawyers make good murder victims. Res ipsa loquitur (the thing speaks for itself).

Here are some more legal characters who might have too much information and become the next murder victim.

• Legal secretaries handle scheduling, draft some minor court documents, deal with client and opposing counsel, and keep the lawyer’s office running smoothly. You could have a legal secretary who steals a trust account check, and the lawyer faces disbarment, or who knows the lawyer is the perpetrator of a giant Ponzi scheme.
• Office managers handle the business and human resources end of the law practice. Do they get rid of staff, hide documents, or move people from department to department to keep any one person from knowing too much? Do they embezzle the trust money? They will probably have passwords and access to the firm’s accounts.
• Notaries witness and put their seal on signatures to verify that they obtained valid identification from the person signing and that the signature is true. Did they notarize a document with lots of white space and turn it into a deed in their favor? Do they uncover a forgery? Unscrupulous notaries can use the Spanish translation, notario, to bilk unsuspecting immigrants. Since notarios are similar to lawyers in some countries, use of this term can mislead people into thinking they’re dealing with a lawyer instead of someone who paid a few dollars to the state to purchase a notary seal and bond. This comes up frequently in immigration fraud scams.
• The judicial assistant, or JA, handles scheduling of hearings, trials, and other court proceedings. A nasty or incompetent JA can make legal life miserable. Your characters can show up to hearings that aren’t on the calendar, have evidence suddenly lost, and other JA-caused tribulations. These could drive anyone over the brink, couldn’t they? The JA could also witness bribery, threats, or jury tampering, which means he could blackmail a lawyer or judge. We know what happens to blackmailers and people who know too much, don’t we?

I hope I’ve provided you with some inspiration for your stories. If you use the law, do the research. Make sure your plot is believable and rings true. There are several resources available for your research. You can also ask a lawyer for advice on how to handle an issue in your story.

Now that you’re filled with ideas, start writing!

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Donna Ballman has practiced employment law for 24 years. She was named in The Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiffs' Lawyers in America 2007 and has received numerous awards. Donna’s book, The Writer’s Guide to the Courtroom: Let’s Quill All the Lawyers, is part of Behler Publications’ award-winning Get it Write series. It is a finalist in the 2010 Florida Writer’s Association’s Royal Palm Literary Awards.

Donna’s blog is The Write Report. She covers writing and publishing news and some of the gaffes she sees writers make, along with tips for fixing those problem areas.

Donna Ballman’s website is http://www.donnaballman.com. You can use the contact form there to ask her about using the law in your writing.