Ignore the fact that many of the people who come into my law library have nary a lick of legal education, most people all want to sound like an attorney because they all think that if they sound like an attorney, that the court (and/or opposing counsel) will suddenly take them seriously.
Take, for instance, the old-ish woman who came to me the other day. She tells me that she needs an example of a demand letter written by an attorney. "Why?" I asked. "So that they'll read it," she responded.
Funny that people think a letter has more power if it was written by an attorney. Don't get me wrong, attorneys are great people (I see them all the time). The point is that if you are not an attorney, why would you try to obfuscate the situation just to look sound one?
Think about this for a moment. Say you only have a high school level education and hand in letter written at a post-graduate level. Do you think, maybe, you won't even understand what you've written and and will include things you don't want?
Might I make an alternative suggestion? How about instead of trying to write a bunch of fancy words that don't mean anything to you, you write a letter that you actually understand? That way, when the other party responds (and they will, eventually), you can have a dialog that is not WAY over your head.
Sound like a plan? Some helpful resources that can help guide you on your way to writing a great "legal" letter include:
- California Tort Forms from Expert Litigators (CEB)
- Wrongful Employment Termination Practice (CEB)
- 101 Law Forms for Personal Use (Nolo Press)
- How to write a California personal injury demand letter (great website on the how of writing letters)
- App to help you write a general demand asking for money (courtesy of the California Courts)
No comments:
Post a Comment