Thursday, May 5, 2016

How to Send a Legal Notice or How to Respond to a Legal Notice



What is a Legal Notice
Legal notice is a formal communication to a person or entity informing him that you intend to undertake legal proceedings against him / her. It is a step taken before filing a suit, and is meant to warn the other party that legal action may be taken against him/her, if he/she fails to comply with some specified condition.
 
In what cases can we send a Legal Notice
Most common cases where I have engaged with my clients in sending legal notices is in case of Property disputes, Dishonor of Cheque, Family disputes pertaining to asset distributions, Husband / Wife conflicts as a warning before taking legal action against the spouse, Consumer complaints and cases where salary / wage commitments are not met.
 
How to send a Legal notice / what is the process for sending a Legal Notice
Many times we do not know the legal importance and meaning of the usual words which we use in a casual manner, engaging a qualified lawyer helps in drafting the legal-notice. Extreme care is taken about the choice of words and language used and measures of caution about not admitting any fact which you may later be denied in a court of law.  Once the legal notice is dispatched than you cannot make any changes in that and later on also you cannot make any contradictory statement from what you have already stated in a legal notice. The Notice is sent on a plain paper or on the letterhead of the lawyer.
 
Step 1: Connect with a lawyer who carries good in drafting skills, the notice can be sent in any Indian Language, usually English is been the preferred choice of my clients. The notice should be addressed to the person against whom you have the grievances.
 
Step 2: In your consulting session with the lawyer, please explain the information in detail with names of parties involved; address, dates when commitments were made and not honoured, challenges and issues faced, any previous attempts of dialogue etc…
Especially in case of husband-wife dispute, in my personal experience I have observed a legal notice often brings the spouse for negotiation and in many instances disputes are resolved via counselling or mutual consent  
 
Step 3: The lawyer carefully studies your information shared, makes relevant and required notes in the conversation with you and seeks any additional information if required.
 
Step 4: The lawyer then drafts the notice in a legal language clearly mentioning the reason for sending the notice, all previous communications regarding the cause of notice and offer the addressee a reasonable time say 15 days or 30 days or 60 days to settle the matter by negotiating and by performing the desired action.
Depending on the grievance usually the lawyers on behalf of the client sending the notice stress for an action to be performed in the stipulated period of time to either fulfils the demand or seek a reply.
 
Step 5: The notice is duly signed by both the client and the lawyer and is either sent via Registered Post or Courier and ensure the acknowledgement is retained. Usually a copy of the notice is retained by the lawyer.
 
Step 6: The expectation is after the notice is received by the other party; he/she will reply back, but as a standard best practice the lawyer in some time calls up the other party. I ethically believe it’s a good practice to follow and especially in cases of husband-wife conflicts usually I call up the person to whom notice is sent requesting to come up for counselling or discussion and try resolve matters out of court.
 
What should you do after receiving the Legal Notice
In case you are not the sender but have received a legal notice the steps to be followed are as follows:
Step 1: Unlike a traditional advice, not always after receiving the legal notice you need to consult a lawyer. You can opt to call up the party in concern who has sent you the notice to amicably settle down the matter and resolve the same in the best interest of time and money.
 
Step 2: If you believe the notice sent or the information in the notice is not accurate or need to contest and need legal help, approach a qualified lawyer who can take necessary actions. The first step after reaching the lawyer is to share your side of the story and the facts with date and time when the events occurred so that the lawyer will review the notice you have received and will draft a reply based on the facts collected from you.
 
Step 3: In this case too, the lawyer will send the reply to the notice via courier or registered post.  A copy of the notice sent and received both are retained in the lawyer office along with the acknowledgement receipts or all communications. Your lawyer will also in sometimes communicate with the lawyer of the other party to enable a smooth flow and try resolving matters at your end.
The exchange of legal notices usually results in the commencement of litigation between the parties as the party sending the notice may take recourse to civil/criminal law remedies.
 
Points to remember
·  The party being served with the lawsuit / notice is called “the respondent” or “defendant”. A legal notice may be responded to only if it has merit and needs to be replied to.

·         One of the simplest reasons to understand why legal notices are used deals with fairness. It is possible that the notice sent by the plaintiff may not reach the respondent, this can be due to change in address location or information about the respondent is not available to the plaintiff, so far I have not come across such a situation, there are definitely certain legal steps we can take in these situations.

·         If the notice has substance and the facts stated therein, if litigated against in the court would go against you, then do consult a qualified and reputed lawyer who practices in the issues related to the notice being sent and discuss with him / her. For ex. If the notice is with respect to property disputes visit a civil lawyer, or if family disputes visit a lawyer who practices family law and so on…

·         Leave it to your lawyer whether or not to reply the notice.  Your initial consultation with the lawyer will help you understand if its required to reply or not or what are the right steps to resolve the issue at hand.

·         In case the notice is converted into a suit it’s mandatory for you to respond. Ensure all your facts are in place so that the next steps by your lawyer are advised in due course of action.

Legal notices are a vital principal of the courts providing fairness and due process by giving all parties affected by the lawsuit or legal proceeding notice of the legal procedure. No party can operate in secret and all court actions must be apparent to all parties to the case.

In my experiences especially in matters of cheque defaults and family disputes, husband wife conflicts I have resolved matters before reaching the courts through counselling and arbitration / mediation and mutual understanding, legal notice plays a very vital role here and it all depends on how you draft one, the focus of your lawyer should be to resolve the issue at hand and not to create or escalate tensions. 

You may wish to reach me at lawyersonia@gmail.com for further advice or guidance.

You may also like to read about Divorce by Mutual Consent visiting the link below
http://lawyersonia.blogspot.in/2017/02/how-to-get-divorce-by-mutual-consent-in.html 





27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mam namaste. my sister got married in 2007 when she 15. But he already liked a girl and on his mother's force he married our sister. Our father died after one year. By 2010 she had two kids. Then he himself told that he meanwhile developed an illegal relationship with his brothers wife to save himself before that lady reveals and then our elders discussed on this and sent my sister and her husband to live in my mother's house. But he started to Harris my sister saying she is black fat ugly whereas his Brothers wife is very beautiful so he tortured her by beating abusing so on even serially also he harassed her in his brothers wife's memories. He started to say even to my mother that he will again go to his brothers wife. But even his in laws also wanted to hide all these and so started to say everyone that our sister is torturing him by doubting.he left her 7 times and for the last time on 25th January 2016. But now he sent a legal notice saying he's very good person but my sister is doubting him. And my mother is not sending her and he wax so good that he even stayed at my mother's house for the sake of his wife. We are shocked. What to do now. He has given only 7 days time. Mam we don't have any support. We are three Sisters and mother no brothers. Please help us mam. Even we went to PS but they also said ladies must adjust. After all they are also males only. What should we do now. Please reply mam. Please ...

Sonia Rajesh said...

You may have to contact a lawyer and reply back to his notice as the first step. In case you want to talk to me for guidance do call / email me.

Thanks
Sonia

Unknown said...

I commend you for this noteworthy gesture of writing this blog on legal affairs. This blog sheds light on the purpose and process of sending a legal notice. It is very useful to us laymen who have no knowledge of legal affairs. I hope your noble work continues by keeping this blog updated and alive with more such legal clarifications.
All the best!!!

Riya said...

I have a question, One lady in Pune (Which is my friends's aunt) took Rs. 10Lakh from us saying she is developing the land will triple the money in an year. We gave her money last year March 2015. She sent an agreement which she notarized without our signature. Till date she has not returned a single rupee and not even picking up our call. She is advocate herself and certified notary. We have the agreement with us which we haven't signed yet. We definitely want to get our money back but want to teach her a lesson as well so that she won't dare to play with anybody's hard earned money. Can you please let me know what do you think we should do in this case?

Sonia Rajesh said...

Riya, You may wish to do so, kindly call me or email me I will reply back to you one to one.

Unknown said...

Is it possible to send legal notices via E-mail? Please reply

Sonia Rajesh said...

Yes, it is possible.

Madan Kumar said...

Very apt and relevant information... Thanks for sharing

Anny said...

Dear Sonia... I am from Venezuela, married to an Indian, he is now back to India and not responding to me any more. I need to take a legal action. I have also written to your email ID, kindly revert.

Regards,
Anny

Anonymous said...

Dear mam/sir,my brother has got married in the year 2012, its love and arrange marriage,from starting of there marriage they are not in good relation,his wife is like physco,she dont allow him to stay with family,if he talk with any girls she doubts and make an illegal relationship.once upon a time she said 'why didnt you marry your mother,why u married me',they had 3yrs baby.when she was 10months she fought with him n left home for 2days.still dont now wher she went.My brother every time intimated there parents about her behaviour.she use volgour language about my brother n mother.And again she came back to him lived togther,after 1yr she fight again with him n went to police station n gave complaint.at dat time she said she will live separetly for 4months till den should not disturb her but after9 months my brother went to police station and asked about his daughter so SI called her and asked her to come to police station as her decision is pending.Then she said that she will stay back with him and again aftr 1month she went and gave complaint in other area police station,already the complaint is pending her but also she gave complaint again as her meternal aunt is politician in dat circle witj help of her they want to file a case on him,as police called my brother he went and spoke with them,on same day his wife n her mother, meternal aunts, grand mother abused and used vulgar langauage and spoke with him and she wants to come back with him again but my brother dont want to stay with her any more as she is torchering him from 4years n will not change further.so wants to apply for divorce,can he apply for it, will he get justification.

Sonia Rajesh said...

He definitely can apply for divorce. Either he can opt for mutual consent resolving all issues with his wife or can go for contested divorce. You may wish to email me at lawyersonia@gmail.com or call me if want to discuss in length.

Unknown said...

Dear Mam, I own a Real Estate Company in Which i provide the basic services to my customers like ( Electricity, water, maintenance ) but from past few months they are not paying the bills for the facilities we are providing, due to this we have sent them the legal notice to them and given them the ultimatum that if they will not pay the bill within seven days then we will stop providing them all the facilities and will also cut their electricity connection, after that they have also given the response of the legal notice and given various unethical reasons.
So my question is that can i take the action which i mentioned in the legal notice ( Can i cut their electricity connection or i have to file the case in the court )

Unknown said...

Dear Mam, I own a Real Estate Company in Which i provide the basic services to my customers like ( Electricity, water, maintenance ) but from past few months they are not paying the bills for the facilities we are providing, due to this we have sent them the legal notice to them and given them the ultimatum that if they will not pay the bill within seven days then we will stop providing them all the facilities and will also cut their electricity connection, after that they have also given the response of the legal notice and given various unethical reasons.
So my question is that can i take the action which i mentioned in the legal notice ( Can i cut their electricity connection or i have to file the case in the court )

Unknown said...

Dear Mam, I own a Real Estate Company in Which i provide the basic services to my customers like ( Electricity, water, maintenance ) but from past few months they are not paying the bills for the facilities we are providing, due to this we have sent them the legal notice to them and given them the ultimatum that if they will not pay the bill within seven days then we will stop providing them all the facilities and will also cut their electricity connection, after that they have also given the response of the legal notice and given various unethical reasons.
So my question is that can i take the action which i mentioned in the legal notice ( Can i cut their electricity connection or i have to file the case in the court )

Unknown said...

You can join this community to know everything about Consumer Grievance, Consumer Complaints,Online Consumer Community

Unknown said...

I got a notice on a lawyer's letterhead (on behalf of lawyer himself) about my external AC unit is not in right place and I should put it to designated place. At the bottom of notice this also asks to pay fine of 5000/- at his office for the same.
I can remove the AC unit, but do I need to deposit fine to the lawyer. That doesn't seem right somehow.

Unknown said...

I got a notice on a lawyer's letterhead (on behalf of lawyer himself) about my external AC unit is not in right place and I should put it to designated place. At the bottom of notice this also asks to pay fine of 5000/- at his office for the same.
I can remove the AC unit, but do I need to deposit fine to the lawyer. That doesn't seem right somehow.

Sonia Rajesh said...

@Shivani,

here are the options you have ...

1. You need not remove the AC Unit if its as per the norms of the society you live in and give him a befitting reply.

2. Remove the AC Unit... you need not pay him any money thou

3. Do nothing... let the case move on and will await next steps ...

You may wish to call me if want to discuss...

Advocate Megha said...

hi Sonia...I am a practising lawyer though a beginner.I need your little guidance. A public Notice in three prominent newspapers namely Times of India, Navbharat Times and Economic Times has been issued against my client (including his pic )accusing him of fraud and forgery by his ex-employer.
The said notice is not only earning bad name for the client but is also destructing his newly set-up catering business. please advise what is the proper remedy in this case. I shall be grateful.

Sonia Rajesh said...

Hi Megha ... You can file a defamation suit and claim for damages. You may wish to write to me on lawyersonia@gmail.com for any further assistance.

regards,
Sonia

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I'm hoping to view the same high-grade blog posts from you in the future as well.
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Anonymous said...

Hello mam my self Madhuri some days ago I got work from online that was data entry they said no registration fees but we can cut from ur salary. I agree but when I received work n send my I'd proof they told me if I'm failed then I have to pay penalty amount that is 4800 I'm did my work ownestly but I was failed I don't know which method they apply to check now they send me legal notice and demanding money they told me they file case in my nearest police station if I not pay penalty is it possible that they file case what should I do when I check on internet most of the people said it is scam sould I worried or not. Plz tell me

Sonia Rajesh said...

Dear Madhuri,

I understand your concerns, kindly let me know if there is a contract you have signed, do you have the verified credentials, if you happened to believe this is a SCAM go ahead and file a compliant against them. Feel free to call me if you wish to talk.

Regards,
Sonia.

Unknown said...

Hi mam,
i have marriede in feb 2018 .the issue is in a first month of marriage my wife was making a phone call & massage to some people in my absence but i knew everything. after that i asked her about calls & massage she lies with me. after that i hacked her whatsapp after some days she massaged on whatsapp to my cousin and abuse about me n my mother. i seen that massage. after that i took a meeting of her family n my family and i send her to her parents house till date she staying with her parents.i dont want take back her to my house.i dont want to stay with her & i want a divorce. my question is can she forcely stay in my house.? how to prevent her to not to stay in my house? can i file a divorce petition if she is staying with me? can i get a divorce on grounds of cruelty? please advice me

Unknown said...

Hi mam,
i have married in Feb 2018 .the issue is in a first month of marriage my wife was making a phone call & massage to some people in my absence but i knew everything. after that i asked her about calls & massage she lies with me. after that i hacked her whats app after some days she massaged on whats app to my cousin and abuse about me n my mother. i seen that massage. after that i took a meeting of her family n my family and i send her to her parents house till date she staying with her parents.i don't want take back her to my house.i don't want to stay with her & i want a divorce. my question is can she forcefully stay in my house.? how to prevent her to not to stay in my house? can i file a divorce petition if she is staying with me? can i get a divorce on grounds of cruelty? please advice me

Unknown said...

Gud mrng madam, I read your above legal suggestions/solutions for who have been facing different types of problems in their lives.
Madam, I got married on 25 Feb 2016 and I got a male child on 06 Jan 2017 it is going to complete 29 months when she went her mothers homr she had not come back when panchayat to be helds to bring her to my home then she come with me, almost 04 panchayat were held she is not changing her attitude she wants money only she neither staying with me nor with my parents 04 months before she was gone her mothers home with using abuses on me volugr words..I sent my parents to bring her to my home but she is not at there her mother told she is staying somewhere with her 19 months child....being a serving soldier I didn't understanding how to convince her because this type mentality and panchayats should be effected on my minor child I fears what about my and my child career she has changed her SIM card neither calling me nor attending my call through any person. I love too my child I want to talk with my child and kept with me my wife and my child but she is preferring to stay at her home only and staying somewhere now.....madam I want to send a notice only through lawyer to her to Restoration of marriage life what is procedure.....she was felt wrong to married me she told her elder sister's husband loves too much her and he was also rape attempted on my wife at two times and now she is telling me this type of words and also told someone very loves her at her village but wrongly she got married me to divert my mind....please what can I do now....my wife father was died her childish almost 25yrs gone her mother not re-married again and her Chachi mother's sister also left her husband with her child she also staying in my wifes home for 20yrs and my wife elder sister's husband gone to foreign so that her sister also in my wife mother's home she is not changing her attitude in those type of ladies...

Anonymous said...

Hello, Maam thanks for sharing this article with us. Legal notice can be sent against a person or a company by any person whose legal rights have been infringed or have suffered some legal damage because of a third party.

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