The Lawyer's CEO Trap
A young, ambitious lawyer lands their first major case, defending an influential CEO in a high-profile corporate espionage trial. However, as they delve deeper, they discover that their client might be framing them as the next scapegoat. The lawyers must navigate treacherous legal waters, betrayals, and their own moral compass to save themselves and reveal the truth.
Suggested length: A short story: 1,500 to 5,000 words, or flash fiction under 1,000
Start the clock
Pick a sprint, press start and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
Make it yours
Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- Open with the threat already in motion, not the setup.
- Make the person helping your hero the one to worry about.
- End a scene on a phone call, a knock or a name.
Writing thriller books
Something terrible is coming. Can they stop it in time?
Where a mystery looks back at a crime, a thriller looks forward at a threat. The reader often knows more than the hero, and the tension comes from watching danger close in. Short chapters, high stakes and a ticking clock are the tools of the trade.
What readers expect
- A clear, escalating threat
- A hero under pressure
- Twists and reversals
- Pace: little time to breathe
A tip before you start
Put a clock on it. A deadline the reader can count down turns every scene into a race.
More Legal Thriller prompts
- The Lawyer and Foreign SecretsWrite about a legal thriller where a lawyer specializing in international law is caught up in a case involving a foreign government's hidden agenda.…
- The Politician's Divorce CaseA legal thriller centered around a seemingly straightforward divorce case that spirals into a high-stakes conspiracy when the wife’s new partner is…
- The Trial ResultsA young, ambitious lawyer lands a job at a prestigious law firm. On her first major case, she discovers documents that suggest her client, a large…
- The Whistleblower and the CEOA whistleblower comes forward with information that could incriminate the CEO of a powerful pharmaceutical company. An intense legal battle ensues…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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