Continuity mistake: After Callahan hits on Elle, she pushes his hand off her knee and uncrosses her legs. In the very next shot her legs are crossed again.
Continuity mistake: When Elle is visiting Brooke in jail and takes her all of the goodies in the basket. Elle holds up the "Bible", (cosmopolitan magazine) and Elle's hair is behind her ear, yet in all of the other shots of Elle on the phone, her hair is down and the phone is on her hair.
Continuity mistake: When Brooke finds out that Elle is her lawyer, Elle's hair changes from the back throughout the scenes. First there are some hairs on her shoulder then a little less and then there are three completely split sections.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Elle gets in to the lift when she decides to quit Law, she has a big kink in her hair, however when she gets out of the lift the kink has gone. (01:15:20)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Elle is going to get Brooke's alibi, in the shots of Elle her fingers change places when she is holding onto the phone.
Continuity mistake: When Elle is visiting Brooke in jail, the magazine in the basket in front of Elle is in the back of the basket. In the next shot of Elle it's in the front of the basket, but in the next shot it's in the back of the basket again.
Continuity mistake: When Elle is talking to Brooke at the jail, when they are speaking Elle's hair is under the phone and then it is over the phone. Then the hair goes back under it.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Callahan is trying to get Elle to fess up the alibi, you can see laptops in front of Enid and Warner in the wide shot. When the characters get their close-ups the laptops disappear. This happens several times within the scene.
Factual error: In the final graduation scene, the faculty members on the stage are all wearing mortarboard caps. In fact, they should be wearing the traditional "doctors" graduation caps which resemble Scottish tam-o-shanters.
Suggested correction: Faculty should be wearing the cap and gown of the institution they graduated from, which may or may not be Harvard. I do not teach at the university I obtained my doctorate from, but at graduation I wear the robe and hat from where I earned my PhD, not the one of where I teach as I earned no degree there. That is how it works in the USA. The graduates will all have the same robes and hats, but not the faculty. Faculty hats will depend on where they graduated from. Mine is a standard mortarboard and my husband's is a tam as we went to different schools.
Continuity mistake: Just after Elle's first day at Harvard she takes off to get her nails done. When she sits down in front of Paulette she places her hands on the table and fingers in the manicure bowl. The next shot is of Elle's back and her hands are not even on the table. Then back to Elle's face and her hands are back on the table and finally, Elle's back when she finally places her hands on the table. (00:30:55)
Continuity mistake: When Elle firsts sits down in the CULA counselor's office, to discuss getting into Harvard Law School, her hair is in front of her right shoulder, obscuring the sleeve of her t-shirt. The counselor speaks and in the reaction shot, her hair is behind her shoulder, you can see both sleeves. Then the counselor responds and her hair is in front of the same shoulder, again obscuring the sleeve. This repeats between shots. (00:13:10)
Factual error: By the time all the students are looking on the selected first year interns, they're looking there as though it was a big list that they have to flock around in a mess. They are supposed to be law students. I believe one glance on a four-numbered list is enough to memorize all of the names listed there.
Factual error: Delta Nu is not actually in any college in California. The actual Delta Nu sorority exists at Dickinson College, founded in 1971 following a split from the Chi Omega women's fraternity.
Continuity mistake: In the scene when Elle and her two friends are jumping up and down because they are excited about the road trip, one of the girl's sleeves falls down, in the next scene it's up again.
Visible crew/equipment: Near then end of the movie, Elle leaves the courthouse after winning her case and walks out double doors that are opened for her (she says "thank you boys"). The lighting effect is a bright white scrim. You can see the white scrim material taped together in three sections, and the left-most section even has wrinkles at the top pretty bad quality set construction. (01:29:00)
Continuity mistake: When Elle turns around to talk to Warner in the hallway, a guy in a beige sweater and a woman in a red sweater pass by them. After they've passed, the camera switches back to Warner, and we see them pass by the two again. (00:24:45)
Continuity mistake: When Elle Woods gets to Harvard, stood outside, her nails are manicured. She mentions that Bruiser looks parched, and as she pours Evian water into the bowl, her nails not manicured, but natural and filed. They then go back to being manicured before entering the building.
Continuity mistake: At the scene where Elle is shopping with her two friends for an outfit to wear, the saleswoman gives her a red cloth. Look at Elle's rear reflection in the mirror. There's a lot of hair at the back of her neck, but in the next shot, only a single strand is left at her neck. (00:04:35)
Continuity mistake: When Margo is picking out her wedding dress, Serena has short hair, but in the courtroom scene, she has long hair. (00:38:40 - 01:22:00)
