caveat-scriptor

[caveat-scriptor]

Looking for lawyers and law students!

Are you a lawyer or law student who would be interested in helping out fic writers who want to include legal elements in their story? Consider being a mod for Caveat Scriptor!

About

Caveat Scriptor is a resource (similar to the blog @howtofightwrite) for fic writers who want to include elements of the legal system (or law school) in their stories. By becoming a mod, you would be volunteering your time (as much or little as you like) to helping writers bring some legal verisimilitude to their stories.

Why

It's fun to engage with creative hobbies even if you don't have the time or energy to write yourself. And you can consider it the opportunity to consider areas of law that you may not usually get to interact with but without the pressure of having to provide legal advice (nothing said on the platform is or should be considered legal advice). The aim is some semblance to reality rather than strict legal plausibility.

How

Send an ask with your preferred method of contact!

[caveat-scriptor]

Caveat Scriptor

Caveat Scriptor is your friendly neighborhood fanfic legal clinic. Are you putting your blorbo through the legal wringer? Well, this blog can help. We can answer some of the questions you might have while crafting a story that involves the law.

Things this Blog Is Not

Legal advice. Seriously, the aim of this blog is to give fictional stories verisimilitude. That means that all analysis will be aimed towards serving a satisfying story goal and may not be realistic (the very low bar we're aiming for is mere possibility aka one step above impossible).

Law school or internship help. We aren't here to do your reading, write your memos, or draft your briefs. (Also, it should go without saying, but you should not be relying on this blog to assist you with real legal work.)

Legal consultations for non-fanworks. This is a free resource, accordingly we are am aiming this resource at writers producing works that will be made available for free to readers. There are highly qualified professional legal consultants out there should you need advice regarding non-fanworks.

LEGAL ADVICE. This simply cannot be stressed enough. Nothing on this blog should be construed or understood to be legal advice. The people behind Caveat Scriptor are not your lawyers, we are not your law firm, and you are not our client.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions Currently: Open

REMINDER: Please do not ask us for legal advice. If your ask comes across as asking for legal advice, it will be ignored.

Please include the jurisdiction that your story takes place in. At a minimum, this means stating what country your story takes place in. If your story takes place in the United States, please include the state as well, if you know.

Tell us what goal you are trying to reach with the inclusion of the relevant legal element. For example, if your goal is that some asset falls into a particular character's hands or that your character is threatened with some sort of legal consequence but ultimately escapes any repercussions, it's important that you state that so that we can answer your ask with that in mind. Sometimes the answer might be "this is impossible" or "this is illegal," but if we know your goal we can help you craft a plausible alternative.

Please don't be shy about the fandom/characters. Not all characters will respond the same way to the same legal circumstances; additional information about the characters (either because a mod is familiar with the source material or because you've provided that information) can be helpful.

Think about what information will be helpful to you and ask for it. If you only ask if x is possible, you may not get all the information you need.

FAQ

Are you looking for mods? Yes! If you are a lawyer or law student and are interested in being a mod, please reach out via Ask. Include your preferred contact info in the Ask.

What about the law in x country? This blog is currently aimed at stories set in the United States (though other countries with legal systems based on British common law may find this blog helpful). We would love to bring on some mods with expertise in other countries though!

Can I ask about law school? Sure, if you're writing a law school AU, ask away.

Can I ask about what a day in the life of a lawyer would look like? Sure thing if you're writing a lawyer AU. Keep in mind this differs greatly due to field, type of job, and geography.

Why is this taking so long? We are working lawyers and studying law students volunteering our time as a hobby. Real legal deadlines take precedence.

Resources

In the interest of saving our efforts for questions that are (fictionally) fact-specific, here are some useful guides outlining various (U.S.) legal processes. It will be assumed that you have read the relevant guides. If an answer to a question can be found in one of these guides, it will be ignored.

Elements of a Criminal Trial

Elements of a Civil Case

More to come...

Disclaimer

This is not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship exists between the mods of this blog and any reader of this blog.