What Is The Point Of Letter Of Demand?
A letter of demand is a letter issued by a lawyer demanding the performance of some act on your part, usually with a warning that legal proceedings will be commenced against you if you fail to comply.What To Do If I Receive A Letter Of Demand?
Generally speaking, you should not ignore a lawyer’s letter as doing so may result in the party instructing the lawyer, to commence legal proceedings against you. Further, constantly ignoring letters of demand may be used as a strategy against you later on by the plaintiff to suggest that any defence you may have is an after-thought and/or that you do not take such demands seriously. Depending on what is being demanded of you, you may wish to consider whether it is necessary for you to engage a lawyer. The lawyer can then help to assess the situation you are in and plan with you a strategy in the event legal proceedings are commenced against you.
Before Commencing Legal Proceedings
Typically, prior to the commencement of legal proceedings a claimant would instruct his/her lawyers, to send a letter of demand to the prospective defendant. This letter would usually set out briefly the grounds for the demand, the prospective plaintiff’s demands, and a deadline for the other party to comply. The letter would also typically state that in the event the claimant’s demands are not met, the prospective plaintiff would commence legal proceedings against the other party.Don’t Let The Legal Complexities Prevent You From Pursuing Your Rights To Claim!
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Why Letter Of Demand Normally Get Ignored?
Although issuing a letter of demand through a lawyer is not strictly necessary, there are good reasons why you may want to consider engaging a lawyer to advice you prior to issuing a letter of demand, and to issue a letter of demand for you. Firstly, some prospective defendants do not take letters of demands sent by non-lawyers very seriously. One of the chief objectives of a letter of demand is to secure compliance, as such if a prospective defendant does not take a letter of demand sent by a non-lawyer seriously, such a letter may fail to achieve this objective from the outset. There are a variety of reasons why some people do not take letters of demands by non-lawyers seriously. Some of these reasons are unfounded and erroneous but nonetheless has an impact on whether a prospective defendant takes such a letter seriously. For example, some people have a mistaken belief that for a letter of demand to be valid it must first be issued by a lawyer.
Implications On Your Legal Position
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly issuing a letter of demand (or a demand) may be necessary prior to commencing a claim, and may have implications on your legal position. For example, issuing a demand (whether by way of a lawyer’s letter or any other form) may be a necessary pre-requisite before a prospective plaintiff has the right to commence legal proceedings. For example, take for instance a person trying to commence legal proceedings in respect of a loan that is due and payable upon demand. If such a plaintiff commences a civil suit in the Singapore Courts by issuing a Writ of Summons prior to issuing a demand, the suit could be thrown out completely.When Can Someone Terminate A Contract?
Generally, for an aggrieved person to have a right to terminate a contract, the offending party must have breached a term of the contract that is considered a condition as opposed to a warranty. While there is extensive case law that help explain the difference between a condition and a warranty, it suffices for our explanation here that a term that is a condition can be said to be a one that goes to the root of a contract, whereas a warranty is a term that does not. Applying law to facts, let’s take for example that you have a long-term contract with another person for him to deliver certain goods to you every month. However, on one of these months you are not satisfied with some of the goods you received and realized you have already made payment for it. Arising from this you decide to issue a letter of demand to terminate the contract and demand damages. Your termination may however be wrongful if there was only a breach of a term that is considered a warranty as opposed to a condition of the contract, and you may from this be exposed to liability for the wrongful termination. Problems may similarly arise from the same set of facts even if you are entitled to terminate the contract because there was a breach of a condition, but now decide you prefer the contract to have continued to stay in force. To understand this problem, it is useful to note that generally speaking, once an aggrieved party elects to terminate a contract, the contract is brought to an end and ceases to bind the parties from the time the election is communicated to the other party.Conclusion
The above examples demonstrate the complexity that may be involved in issuing demands in which professional legal advice would greatly help. If you are thinking of issuing a letter of demand or have received a letter of demand and would like to discuss it with a lawyer, please feel free to contact us.Need To Issue A Letter Of Demand?
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