Here you will learn how to write a letter to a lawyer with vivid examples in 6 comprehensive steps that are easy to follow and apply.
Further, I will share with you 7 sample letters to see how letters to lawyers are written.
Writing a letter to a lawyer or attorney might feel intimidating but when circumstances render it necessary, you have to do it anyway.
That’s why I’m writing this post to teaches you how to write letter to lawyer step by step
Contents
How to write letter to lawyer
The letter to the lawyer must be clear and written in formal language. It must be well-formatted, written with purpose, and contain relevant information only.
The following are steps to writing a letter to a lawyer.
Read also: how to write a professional letter to judge
Step 1: Is the letter necessary?
Before starting to compose your letter you must ask yourself, is the letter necessary or I should just call him or just a simple email will be enough?
What do you think?
if your answer is yes then, start to write your letter.
Not sure? read here to learn why you need to write a letter anyway!
Step 2: Clarify your purpose
After being settled that the letter is necessary for you, the next step is to clarify your purpose.
Your purpose hinges on what do you want to archive with your letter.
You will need to clearly convey your purpose to the lawyer;
- Do you want to request a legal service?
- Do you want to inquire about payment?
- Do you want to request a copy of a case file?
- Do you want to fire him?
- etc.
Step 3: Get every important detail
Before writing your letter make sure you have every detail necessary to convert your message clearly.
Without important details, your purpose may not be fulfilled.
Depending on your letter, make sure you have dates, names, locations, documents, files, contacts, and any other important detail as far as your letter is concerned.
Step 4: Formating your letter
Your address
This is the first thing in your letter to the lawyer.
Your address Might be on the right-top or any acceptable location depending on the style of writing letter you choose
For example
Tony Andrew
18 East Street
WESTOWN NSW 1111
Date of the letter
The date must be written soon after your address.
For example
Tony Andrew
18 East Street
WESTOWN NSW 111112 October 2021
Your lawyer address
Below the date, what follows is the lawyer’s address.
A letter to the lawyer should be addressed in a respected and professional manner. At the Lawyer’s address, you should include his/her full name, postal and physical address. As a matter of salutation address a lawyer as “Mr.” or “Ms.” followed by His or her surname.
For example
Tony Andrew
18 East Street
WESTOWN NSW 111112 October 2021
Michael Johnson
AAA Law Firm
222 West Street
WESTOWN NSW 2222
Salutation
Salutation is the way you can show respect to your lawyer.
Salutation might be placed before or after the heading of your letter.
Apart from traditional salutation like Dear/sir or madam you can use the lawyer name or position as salutation example, Dear Managing Partner, Dear Michael, etc.
Learn more bout modern salutation here
Tony Andrew
18 East Street
WESTOWN NSW 111112 October 2021
Michael Johnson
AAA Law Firm
222 West Street
WESTOWN NSW 2222Dear Mr Michael
Headings
There are several styles you can format your letter headings when you write to a lawyer.
One is to use Your purpose as a heading.
For example, Re: Request for my case file
and second is to use your Case title as a heading followed by your purpose.
This is suitable when you are writing a letter to an attorney regarding the case.
For example;
Tony Andrew
18 East Street
WESTOWN NSW 111112 October 2021
Michael Johnson
AAA Law Firm
222 West Street
WESTOWN NSW 2222Dear Sir/Madam
Tony adrew v Marco Samwel Parramatta Local Court, Case number 2022/00001
Request for my case file
Start strong
The best way to start strong in your letter is to state why you are writing it in your first paragraph.
If you are writing to request your case file, state it in your first paragraph, and when necessary, state you do you want what you want.
For example
Tony Andrew
18 East Street
WESTOWN NSW 111112 October 2021
Michael Johnson
AAA Law Firm
222 West Street
WESTOWN NSW 2222Dear Sir/Madam
Tony adrew v Marco Samwel Parramatta Local Court, Case number 2022/00001
Request for my case file
I’m writing this letter to request a copy of my case file from your office….
Use formal language and keep it short
The proper language will let you communicate with your lawyer as clearly as possible.
Keep your letter as short as you can.
Lawyers have a lot of things to read in his/her day.
Don’t let your letter steal his time.
Make sure you include only information necessary to archive the purpose of your letter.
For example
Tony Andrew
18 East Street
WESTOWN NSW 111112 October 2021
Michael Johnson
AAA Law Firm
222 West Street
WESTOWN NSW 2222Dear Sir/Madam
Tony adrew v Marco Samwel Parramatta Local Court, Case number 2022/00001
Request for my case file
I’m writing this letter to request a copy of my case file from your office for the purpose of perusing it and keep it in my records.
Clarify what you want the lawyer to do
Before closing your letter, you have to tell the lawyer what do you want him to do for you.
This will solely depend on the purpose of your letter.
For example
Tony Andrew
18 East Street
WESTOWN NSW 111112 October 2021
Michael Johnson
AAA Law Firm
222 West Street
WESTOWN NSW 2222Dear Sir/Madam
Tony adrew v Marco Samwel Parramatta Local Court, Case number 2022/00001
Request for my case file
I’m writing this letter to request a copy of my case file from your office for the purpose of perusing it and keep it in my records.
Please send a softcopy to tonyadrew22@gmail.com.
Closing your later
Always close your letter with appropriate phrases
Depending on the purpose of your letter, You may use phrases like;
- Looking forward to hearing from you.
- Sincerely
- Best regards
- Yours faithfully
- etc
After the closing phrase, you must include your full name and signature.
You may include a telephone number, to let the lawyer find you, in case he needs something quickly.
For example
Tony Andrew
18 East Street
WESTOWN NSW 111112 October 2021
Michael Johnson
AAA Law Firm
222 West Street
WESTOWN NSW 2222Dear Sir/Madam
Tony adrew v Marco Samwel Parramatta Local Court, Case number 2022/00001
Request for my case file
I’m writing this letter to request a copy of my case file from your office for the purpose of perusing it and keep it in my records.
Please send a softcopy to tonyadrew22@gmail.com.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Best regards
[sgn:]
Tony adrew
Congratulations! now you have written your letter to a lawyer, what next?
Step 5: Use proper means to deliver
The letter you have written must reach the lawyer you need.
Always use means which is reliable and faster.
if possible, deliver your letter physically and where necessary use a dispatch book to record the date and signature of the person who received the letter.
If you have enclosed documents, use a handover letter.
You could use a registered post so that there is a record of when the law firm received it.
or you can just send it via an email address.
In case a lawyer has specified the means through which you can send the letter, please use that one.
Should you check if the lawyer has received your letter? Yes, especially when no response after some time.
Step 6: Save a copy
Make sure you keep a copy of the letter and a record of when you posted it.
That way, if the letter gets lost in the mail or your attorney denies having received it, you will have proof that you sent it and when necessary, it will be easy to resend it.
Have you had enough?
See the 7 samples of letters to the lawyer here. or letter to judge samples
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