“What should you do when you receive a letter from lawyer?”
Many may leave it unattended together with the other letters collected from the mailbox and never bother to open the envelope. Some may have read the letter but opt to ignore and not taking any action, while the rest may even chuck it into the trash can at his or her anger after reading the demands from an adversarial party. These are the BAD EXAMPLES that you must not do when you receive a letter from lawyer. A letter or notice issued by a lawyer is normally a preliminary step prior to the commencement of legal action against the recipient of the letter (notwithstanding there is no legal requirement in doing so). So, you ought to be mindful and cautious when you receive a letter from lawyer. Any failure or inaction to respond to the letter may cause hardship in defending or even counterclaiming the other party in the future possible legal proceeding. Essentially, there are 5 TIPS & GUIDELINES that you may follow when you receive a letter from lawyer:-
Identify the party
First, you have to identify who is the party that the law firm is representing or acting for. This is to ensure that you know the party who is claiming against you and by doing that, you probably would have some ideas on the basis of their claims let alone whether it’s frivolous or not.
Understand the contents
You might disagree or find that the allegations made against you are ridiculous as you read along the letter but it is important to read and understand the entire letter thoroughly. This may assist you in drafting a reply or giving instruction to your lawyer to rebut each and every false allegation made against you in the letter.
Ascertain the demands
The demands or claims are normally found at the last paragraph of the letter. This is the most crucial part that you need to focus on because it is the REASON that you received this letter. Try to ask yourselves honestly whether the demands or claims are valid or not (as sometimes you might be legitimately owing to them) otherwise you might consider whether you have any counterclaims against the claiming party.
Be mindful of the deadline
“WITHIN seven (7) days from the date hereof” OR “WITHIN fourteen (14) days from the date of this letter”, these are the usual deadlines given in a letter of demand depending on the urgency of the matter (notwithstanding there is no fix rule in setting the deadline). However, undue delay in responding to the letter may cause you losing opportunity to rebut the allegations put forth against you as the claiming party would have commenced the legal proceeding or might even obtained judgment against you without your knowledge.
Seek for legal advice
It is wise to consult a lawyer for advice if you receive a letter from a lawyer. Regardless the validity of the demands or claims, your lawyer will advise you the next course of action that ought to be taken in respect of the claims. Assuming that the claims are valid or you are bound to accede with certain demands, your lawyer will assist you in the settlement process whilst safeguard your rights and remedies. Apart from that, your lawyer will advise you on the chances of success in disputing the claims after reviewing your available evidence in hand. Simply put, you would have a clear mind on what to do and what not to do after consulting a lawyer.
To sum up, you should NEVER IGNORE A LETTER FROM LAWYER. This especially applies to those commercial cases in which the Court of Appeal in the case of Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia v Lim Woon Katt [2016] 9 CLJ 73 has held that:-
“…in the ordinary course of business, if one man of business states in a letter to another that he has agreed to do certain things, the person who receives that letter must answer it if he means to dispute the fact that he did so agree.”
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