You received a demand letter from a law firm
A letter on a law firm's letterhead is designed to be taken seriously, and it should be — but it is still a letter from the other side of a disagreement, written to get the most it can. Reading it as a position rather than a verdict is the first useful thing you can do.
What this letter usually is
A demand letter from a firm sets out, on behalf of its client, what the client says happened, what they want you to do or pay, and what the firm says will follow if you do not. It commonly gives a date, cites something — a contract, a rule, an earlier letter — and asks for a response in writing. The firm represents its client, not the facts, and the letter is the client's account.
What it usually asks for
Payment of a stated sum, or a specific act — stopping something, returning something, signing something — by a stated date. Many also ask you to confirm in writing that you will comply, and some ask you to direct all further contact to the firm rather than to their client.
The deadlines that commonly apply
Demand letters from firms commonly give a short, fixed period — a couple of weeks is common — and say what the firm intends to do when it ends. Your letter states its own date, or it does not. The date is the firm's stated intention on its client's behalf, not a statement of what any law requires, and a reply that arrives before it changes what happens next.
Three ways to respond
- 1Reply asking for the documents and the basis the demand relies on, before you respond to the substance.
- 2Reply disputing the account in the letter, setting out your own with the records you have, without admitting anything.
- 3Reply proposing terms — a figure, a date, an undertaking — in writing, marked as an offer to settle.
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Frequently asked questions
CraftMyLetter writes and delivers letters. It is not legal advice, we are not a law firm, and nothing here is a statement of what any law requires.