SUING OVER 'SHAKESPEARE'

04/02/1999 at 12:00 AM EST

Not one but two lawsuits are brewing over the Oscar-winning movie "Shakespeare in Love." Author Faye Kellerman (responsible for the bestsellers "Prayers for the Dead" and "Justice") claims "Shakespeare" scenarists Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman stole the idea for the movie from her 1989 historical novel "Quality of Mercy." In it, a young William Shakespeare falls in love with a well-born woman. In the second complaint, writer-producer-director Richard Haase says he's planning to sue Miramax (which produced "Shakespeare") for millions because it used elements from his 1981 off-Broadway musical "Star Crossed Lovers." Haase says he's currently speaking to an attorney recommended to him by Johnnie Cochran's office.