EveryBody's Guide to the Law

INTRODUCTION
wHEN MELVIN BELLI and I were having lunch one afternoon in 1985 talking
about projects we could do together, I came up with the idea for doing a consumer’s
guide to the law, much like a home medical reference guide; something the average
layperson with a legal problem could consult to determine how serious it might be and
whether he or she should try to take care of it himself or herself or whether a lawyer’s assistance
was necessary. Mel immediately liked the idea.
I did some research to see whether there were any similar books on the market and found
several, but none of them did what I considered a good job; some weren’t very comprehensive,
while others were written in “legalese” rather than plain English. I reported back to Mel with
about four or five books in hand and explained the deficiencies of each. Mel said, “Do you
honestly think we can come up with a better book that will help people?” Without hesitating,
I said, “Without a doubt,” and went into a half-hour-long argument of why we could put
together a book that would outshine everything on the market and be an invaluable legal
resource to the average layperson. By the end of my presentation, Mel was leaning back in his
chair, saying, “Okay, okay, you’ve convinced me. Now, do you think you can convince a publisher?”
“I’m positive of it,” I replied.
So I prepared a thorough proposal and three sample chapters and blindly submitted them to
ten of the leading publishers. One publisher was interested immediately; the editor who would
be handling the book and the head of the sales department flew in within two weeks to seal
the deal. Little did I realize that that meeting would result in my forming a fast and lifelong
friendship with the editor, a writing schedule that put me in the hospital briefly for sheer
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