Writing an Effective Demand Letter

While many students who go on to law school have majored in areas like political science, public policy, economics, or philosophy, the English majors or those who have a strong propensity for writing–and especially a demand letter–have a definite head start. As an attorney, you will be required to do an enormous amount of reading and writing in your career. But it all starts in law school. And there, you will also do copious amounts (to understate!) of reading in your studying assignments and writing for your classwork.

Learning how to write an effective demand letter is vital—and especially when you consider how much clients will be relying on you to produce written communications and hit the mark with the other party. How many times have you heard people say, ‘Well, I will have my attorney write a letter!” That will be you, and these letters are expected to be flawless.

As always, and even in the driest of legal writing, the key is to write to your reader. For a demand letter to be effective, you will need to have all the facts for the potential case at hand, along with understanding exactly what it is your client wants—and what they will accept in the end. Your letter may be the initial starting point, which is why it must be so strong. The main point of the letter is what your client wants, but as you write, keep these tips in mind:

• Avoid using extreme legalese. Remember, you are writing to the other party, and the goal here is for them to understand what you say.
• Explain the details of the issue comprehensively, outlining what happened from beginning to end. If this is a financial dispute, include all the supporting figures, or evidence how your client was wronged.
• If there were injuries to your client, explain exactly what happened, along with any costs associated with the injury.
• State exactly what your legal demands are and why, with the exact settlement amount your client seeks.
• Be to the point, honest about what happened (after all, they were probably there), and reasonable about your demands from the other party.

Our mission at CDTA College of Law is to educate, train, and develop extraordinary legal advocates. Your legal education will be comprised of bar-tested academic subjects, skills training, and values reinforcement. Upon completion of your 4-year course of study you will be fully qualified to take and pass the California Bar examination. Call us today at (760) 342-0900 or find out more online here.