David S. Mullally

David S. Mullally is a California attorney, photographer, and writer best known to fiction writers for his Writer's Digest reference book Order in the Court: A Writer's Guide to the Legal System. A third-generation Californian, he has practiced law since 1976 and is licensed in California, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia.

His legal career covers both sides of the courtroom and several roles inside it. He has worked with public defenders and district attorneys, in firms and as a sole practitioner, on criminal and civil cases, representing adults and minors, individuals and insurance companies, plaintiffs and defendants. He has also served as a judge pro tem, arbitrator, mediator, lecturer at state bar meetings, and professor of law.

Order in the Court (Writer's Digest Books, Behind the Scenes series) gives writers of mystery, thriller, crime, romance, and screenwriters the practical material they need to render legal procedure correctly: the structure of the U.S. legal system, criminal trial proceedings from arraignment to appeal, civil law procedures and types of cases, search and seizure rules, jury selection and deliberation, plea bargains, and the visual layout of a typical courtroom. The book also gives a detailed walkthrough of a civil trial from intake through appeal. It is widely used in writing programs and recommended for legal-fiction writers who want to sound like they have spent years around courthouses.

Outside the law, Mullally is a professional photographer whose work has appeared in galleries and publications. With his wife Linda B. Mullally, a hiking writer and Monterey Herald travel columnist, he co-authors hiking guides including Doggie Paddlin', Best Dog Hikes Northern California, and Coastal Trails of Northern California for Falcon Guides. They live in Carmel, California.