Line #75 Main/OminousLegalPhraseTitle


1	[[quoteright:299:[[Film/ExcessiveForce https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/excessive_force.png]]]]
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3	Need an imposing title for your legal thriller or LawProcedural, but can't come up with a good MadLibsThrillerTitle? Try an Ominous Legal Phrase Title instead. Just browse through Black's Law Dictionary or the US Constitution and pick out a two-to-five word phrase you recognize from [[CourtroomDrama Courtroom Dramas]] or civics class. Ideally one of the words will be "guilt" or "malice" or "danger" or the like. The formal language imparts gravitas, the familiarity lets the reader or viewer recognize the genre at a glance, and the aforementioned negative-connotation words make the whole title seem properly ominous.
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5	In short, the author must clearly have had ''scienter'' in using legal terms ''with malice aforethought'', such that we know they are ''culpable'' in having done so ''beyond a reasonable doubt'' and perhaps even ''to a moral certainty.'' Otherwise if the term is being used in a manner not related to legal terms, then this trope is ''acquitted'' of being applicable to the work.
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7	Though most commonly found in legal and political thrillers, the format can sometimes be used for a straight drama (e.g., ''Film/CrimesAndMisdemeanors''). If the title is the name of a particular crime, then the work is probably a CriminalProcedural instead.
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9	This title format seems to have been most popular from the late 80s through early 2000s, with Creator/ScottTurow, Creator/RichardNorthPatterson and Creator/TomClancy being among its most prominent users.
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11	This trope is about titles with specific, technical meanings in the legal profession, not general-use expressions like Literature/CrimeAndPunishment or Series/LawAndOrder (although [[Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent Criminal Intent]] ''is'' a specific legal term).
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13	A subtrope of TerminologyTitle. Compare SciFiNameBuzzwords, LiteraryAllusionTitle.
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15
16	----
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18	!!Examples
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20	[[foldercontrol]]
21
22	[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
23	* Played with in the ''FanFic/MotionPractice'' series, where the full-length works all have legal phrases titles, but most of them aren't all that ominous. This suits the fact that, although the stories revolve around a cast of lawyers, they tend to be as much about the characters' tangled private lives as about legal thriller stuff.
24	[[/folder]]
25
26	[[folder:Film]]
27	* ''Film/AbsenceOfMalice:'' From U.S. libel law, post-Sullivan v. New York Times: A public figure suing must show that whoever said the bad and false thing about them did so with "actual malice", i.e., they either knew it wasn't true or were recklessly negligent in determining whether it was.
28	* ''Film/AdviseAndConsent:'' In the US, the Senate's constitutional role toward executive-branch nominees. In the UK, part of the formal enacting clause of all Acts of Parliament.
29	* ''Film/BeyondAReasonableDoubt'': the phrase used to describe what a jury must find to render a Guilty verdict. The weird thing in this instance is that the guy on trial for murder actually ''framed himself'' as part of a crackpot scheme to expose the evils of the death penalty.
30	* ''Film/BodyOfEvidence''
31	* ''Film/BreakingAndEntering2006''
32	* '' Film/ClearAndPresentDanger'', a doctrine adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States to determine under what circumstances limits can be placed on First Amendment freedoms of speech, press, or assembly.
33	* ''Film/CrimesAndMisdemeanors:'' Part of the formal definition of an impeachable offense in US law; originating in UK law but obsolete there due to impeachments no longer being used.
34	* ''Film/DoubleIndemnity''
35	* ''Film/DoubleJeopardy:'' the principle that one can't be tried twice for the same offense.
36	* ''Film/ExcessiveForce'', 1993 CowboyCop movie.
37	* ''Film/HostileWitness'', a 1968 British courtroom drama, based on a play.
38	* ''Film/InherentVice'', a 2014 neo-noir film based on a book of the same title.
39	* ''Film/IntolerableCruelty'', a 2003 romantic comedy. The phrase is used in the law of divorce.
40	* ''Film/IrreconcilableDifferences:'' one possible grounds for divorce.
41	* ''Film/LawAbidingCitizen'': The dash is missing from "Law-Abiding" to show that it's the law abiding the citizen, not the other way around.
42	* ''Film/NothingButTheTruth'', a 2008 fictionalization of the Valerie Plume case, with Creator/KateBeckinsale and Creator/MattDillon. Released DirectToVideo in the US. From the oath sworn by witnesses in court.
43	* ''Film/PresumedInnocent:'' From the legal maxim that everyone is presumed innocent until evidence is prevented otherwise; the burden of proof always falls on the prosecution.
44	* ''Film/QuidProQuo'', a 2008 drama film.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Literature]]
48	* By Creator/TomClancy:
49	** ''Literature/AgainstAllEnemies:'' Part of the US Presidential oath of office.
50	** ''Literature/ClearAndPresentDanger'', made into a movie with Creator/HarrisonFord.
51	** ''Literature/FullForceAndEffect''
52	* ''Literature/TheBurdenOfProof'', by Creator/ScottTurow, made into a miniseries.
53	* ''Literature/ProvenGuilty'', part of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''
54	* ''Literature/UnreasonableForce'', by Creator/KennethEade
55	* Almost every [[Creator/PerriOShaughnessy Perri O'Shaughnessy]] novel, including:
56	** ''Motion to Suppress''
57	** ''Invasion of Privacy''
58	** ''Obstruction of Justice''
59	** ''Breach of Promise''
60	** ''Acts of Malice''
61	** ''Move to Strike''
62	** ''Writ of Execution''
63	** ''Unfit to Practice''
64	** ''Presumption of Death''
65	* Almost all of the ''Literature/JPBeaumont'' mysteries by Creator/JAJance:
66	** ''Until Proven Guilty''
67	** ''Injustice for All''
68	** ''Trial by Fury''
69	** ''Taking the Fifth''
70	** ''Improbable Cause''
71	** ''A More Perfect Union''
72	** ''Dismissed with Prejudice''
73	** ''Minor in Possession''
74	** ''Payment in Kind''
75	** ''Without Due Process'''
76	** ''Failure to Appear''
77	** ''Lying in Wait''
78	** ''Name Withheld''
79	** ''Breach of Duty''
80	** ''Partner in Crime''
81	** ''Justice Denied''
82	** ''Betrayal of Trust''
83	** ''Proof of Life ''
84	* ''Literature/InherentVice'', a 2009 novel by Creator/ThomasPynchon.
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86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
89	* ''Film/IndictAndConvict'', a 1974 made-for-TV movie starring Creator/WilliamShatner.
90	* ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent''
91	* ''Series/MurderInTheFirst''
92	* ''Series/MurderOne''
93	* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', a term used to refer to someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Theatre]]
97	* ''Beyond Reasonable Doubt''
98	* ''Theatre/WitnessForTheProsecution''
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:VideoGames]]
102	* ''Videogame/TwentyFiveToLife'', named after indeterminate life sentence usually reserved for firearms-related homicide.
103	* The ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series, named after a term for carjacking - which you will be doing a whole lot of in these games.
104	* ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'', in keeping with the ''Grand Theft Auto'' parody.

Context Main / OminousLegalPhraseTitle