I decided to have a life: to become - pardon the expression - a soccer mom.
— Marcia Clark
Most of my interviews have been with millennials, and it's been a fascinating window into my kids' world. It's been so wonderful to see a generation that seems so savvy in so many ways - and so much cooler than we were.
I had the perm because I wanted wash-and-wear hair. I didn't want to be bothered with it.
As a lawyer, particularly in criminal law, you really do have to try to tell your story to the jury and hope that the judge makes rulings that allows your story to get through.
If you get robbed, no one's going to ask you, 'Well, what were you wearing?'
That's who I was: a prosecutor. I really loved it.
I like cable stuff; I really do - 'American Horror Story,' 'American Crime Story.'
I don't think any prosecutor should walk into a courtroom and think they're going to wow a jury with catchphrases and cliches and that kind of performance.
I don't feel like an icon; I don't think of myself as an icon.
The minute you step into a job where you have to be at all tough and assertive, that's when the mischief happens. And you're not allowed to be assertive and feminine.
I'm a woman, and I see women get put through an awful lot of grief and be subjected to the kind of criticism, remarks, and suggestions that no woman should ever have to tolerate. And I think we should be helping each other and supporting each other.
I wasn't unsympathetic as a defense attorney, but my strong feelings for the victims were getting in my way. I identified too much with the victim.
I actually was a defense attorney first.
Every little pocket of Los Angeles County is almost like its own state. It has its own way of being and own way of feeling, and parts of it feel like the Midwest, and parts of it feel like the East Coast. It's a rich tapestry.
I was a defense attorney before I was a prosecutor, and so knowing what the defense is going to try to do is something that you have to do constantly when you're in trial. I always went to trial knowing what they were doing. So I was always in both mindsets anyway. 'Oh, they're going to do this, then I'm going to do that.'
People are used to streaming and binge-watching. When they see an author they like, if there's only one book, even if they like the book, they're going to forget about you. The way to keep you in their mind and to get you to become a habit for these readers is you have to have a lot of product out there for them to read.
When jurors are forced to spend day and night with each other, apart from their families and friends, they become a tribe unto themselves. Because they only have each other for company, and because most people prefer harmony to discord, there's a natural desire to cooperate, to compromise in order to reach agreement.
I'm a big supporter of women doing anything they want to do!
I made mistakes in every trial.
When I first joined the DA's office, there weren't that many women. So there was a fair degree of sexism. Everybody kind of got over it when they saw you doing your job.
The only thing the defense has to do is take care of the client and see to it that they attack every weak spot on the prosecution's case. It's up to the judge to make sure that they don't pull any fast ones.
Too frequently, we see women being pitted against each other.
Trayvon Martin broke my heart.
I didn't understand why people cared about my hair or my makeup or my clothing. It was like, 'I'm a prosecutor. I'm not a model. I'm not an actress.'
I am devoted to my two children, who are far and away more important to me than anything.
I have straight hair. If I don't blow it out, it's not good.
I think women in general, we just soldier on. Whatever it takes, you just have to do it. It's your job. Whatever it is.
To the extent that someone goes out to criticize another woman about hair, makeup, silliness like that - unless you're talking about a makeup artist or something, really stop and think about what you're doing and why you're doing it.
I chose law because writing was involved. I didn't realize how boring legal writing was, but I even learned to love that.
For a long time, I missed being in the courtroom every day. I missed trial work. It was so much a part of my life. It was what I did and who I was. But over the years, I did find the opportunity to realize my childhood dream of writing crime fiction.
I agree with Scott Turow: A courtroom is inherently dramatic. You walk into court - it's like an ER, you know? Life and death is going on there. And it's moment-by-moment, and it's packed with energy. And even though you think you know what a witness is going to say, you can be wrong. Witnesses surprise you.
If you're going to educate the public and tell them how things happen in the courtroom, then you really owe them the duty to do it right. Don't misinform.
By no means did my first book sell. I took a few runs at it. You'll never see those early efforts 'cause they're burned, straight to the fireplace where they belong.
It's gratifying when younger women come up and say, 'I went to law school because of you.' My heart swells; then it's like, wait, are you glad, or do you blame me?
I remember being called 'feminazi' and all that. I'm so proud of these young women who are coming out and not afraid to say they are feminists.
Before I was a prosecutor, I was a defense attorney. I took a cut in pay because I wanted to stand up for the victims.
I was the only female in the special trials unit for many years.
The prosecution has an ethical duty to ensure not just that they get a conviction when the defendant is guilty, but also to ensure that they get it by means of fair trial, and that means a fair trial for the defense as well as the prosecution.
Most people don't go back to trial work after being in management, but I couldn't do anything else.
I love Viola Davis.
Sarah Paulson is mind-blowing. I mean, she always is. She's always fantastic.
You amp things up and you speed things up, but technically, you can still be legally correct. This is the big beef I have with novels as well as television shows - it actually makes for a better show when you accommodate the truth.
Where a man is forceful, a woman is shrill.
When I first started, it was so male-heavy, so male-dominated, that on the 18th floor of the criminal courts building, which was where I worked, there were three men's bathrooms and only one women's bathroom.
I can write dramas that are about inside and outside the courtroom.
I loved writing when I was a kid and thought about being a writer then. But I didn't have the confidence or belief that I could earn a living that way, so I never took myself seriously.
You never know what's going to happen when somebody endeavors to do a true crime story. It can be horribly misleading.
There are bombshells that happen in court. Especially when the defense doesn't share discovery of material the way the prosecution does, and so surprises always happen. Things pop out without warning.
My life is a mosaic, and there's no room in between pieces at all.
When you're writing fiction, you're in every character 'cause you can't help it.
