How to send anyone Legal Notice

What is a Legal Notice?

A Legal notice is a formal written document sent by a person or an entity with respect to some grievance. It is sent as a warning to the receiver that the one sending the notice have certain grievances which are not properly taken care of by the receiver, although the receiver has given enough opportunity to the receiver to resolve the problem.

It is like a final warning to the receiver that the sender is all prepared to initiate a legal action and it is the final opportunity for the receiver to resolve the issue in hand properly.

Importance of filing a Legal Notice

• By sending legal notice it can give a clear intention on the part of the sender to file a lawsuit for the purpose of resolving the issue to which the other party might respond immediately to save oneself from court proceedings.
• A person can easily describe his grievance in a legal notice with the help of an Advocate.
• Serving of legal notice gives an opportunity to the receiver of the legal notice, that is, the opposite party to resolve the issue cordially.
• It acts as a reminder for the receiver of the legal notice about the acts that have intentionally or unintentionally have created a problem for the sender.

When to send a Legal Notice?

• Disputes related to property such as mortgage, delayed possession delivery by the builder, eviction of the tenant, the partition of family property, etc.
• Notice to the employer for wrongful termination, unpaid salary, violation of any right of the employee by the employer, etc.
• Notice to the employee for violation of the HR policies, sexual harassment act at the workplace, leaving the job without handing over the resignation letter, violation of any provision of the employment agreement, etc.
• Notice to a company manufacturing or providing service of faulty products, faulty services, false advertisement, etc.
• Notice in the case of cheque bounce to the issuer of the cheque.
• Notice in case of personal conflicts such as divorce, maintenance, child custody, etc.

Acts for Legal Notice

under section 80 of The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

A Legal Notice is generally filed in civil cases. In the criminal cases, there is no filing of the legal notice as in case of a criminal offense the action is instituted by the State against the person committing the offense as State is the supreme power. However, if you intend to initiate a civil suit against the Government you have to serve a legal notice to the Government beforehand and only thereafter you can file a civil suit against the Government.

Section 80 of The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 provides for sending of a legal notice to the Government or public officer if one wants to initiate a legal action against them for any act claimed to be done by such public officer during the course of his official duty until the expiration of two months. The purpose of the notice is to give Secretary of State or the public officer a chance to reevaluate his legal position and to offer some kind of compensation without going to a court of law.

Legal Notice under Section 138 of The Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881

In the case of a cheque bounce, it is mandatory to send a legal notice to the issuer of cheque within a time frame of 30 days from the date of cheque bounce. If no repayment of money is received after 15 days of the delivery of the legal notice, then you can initiate a legal action within 30 days from the date of completion of 15 days time period.

Criminal liability is also established under this section wherein the drawer of the dishonored cheque may get a sentence of 2 years jail term or fine or both.

• In the notice, you have to provide details of the transaction for which the cheque was issued, details of the cheque, details of dishonor, etc. through a lawyer.
• Notice to be signed by both lawyer and payee.
• Notice to be sent through registered post.

How to draft a Legal Notice?

it becomes a document of proof as it regards the opposite party having received or receives the legal notice.

Now, getting into the notice the first paragraph should be “Under the instruction of my clients _______ residents of _______. I have to address you as under-”. This is the system that is generally followed, but you can also follow a different system.

For example- I am concerned for my client _______ who is a resident of _______ and accordingly, I have the privilege of addressing you upon his/her instructions.

Step 2

Every paragraph in the notice is to be prefixed with the phrase “My Clients state”. This is a very good practice as the opposite party has to know that the statements that are being stated in the notice are coming directly from the client and that they are not created or fabricated by the advocate. When this phrase is prefixed before every paragraph, the opposite party understands that the client is instructing the advocate specifically to state such statements in the notice and the opposite party understands that whatever the advocate is saying is based upon the client’s instruction so that the reputation of the advocate is not tarnished in front of the opposite party and helps in inviting the settlement.

The notice that is being provided here is a notice that is been issued by the landlord to the tenant for the purpose of recovery of rent, that is, the tenant has defaulted in making the payment of rent, therefore, the landlord is issuing a statutory notice to the tenant calling upon the tenant to make payment of the rent of a specific period defaulting which the landlord should be constrained to pursue civil remedies before the civil courts.

You can see the contents of the notice below and know that how to draft a legal notice and what language is to be used while drafting, but one thing that you all need to keep in mind while drafting is that you have to always prefix “My Clients state” before every statement of yours.

Step 3

An important part of a notice is that you have to state that what you want from the opposite party. What you want to convey to the opposite party is always stated in the last paragraph. In the last paragraph, you instruct/intimate the opposite party that the opposite party has to do so and so within the specified period of time failing which the sender will be constrained to avail the civil remedies.

In this notice, the time limit is an important aspect. You have to fix a specific time limit within which the opposite party has to act, because if the opposite party did not act within the specified time limit then it gives you an excuse to pursue legal action, it gives you a cause of action. Therefore, a specified number of days has to be mentioned. Preferably it should be 30 days because it gives the opposite party ample time to act and respond to the notice or should he abide by or fulfill the contents of the notice.

You can also frame the last paragraph differently, that is, if in the event you are issuing the notice for the purpose of inviting a settlement than you can always state in the last paragraph that you are hereby called upon to settle the matter amicably or that you are hereby called upon to meet me in the office or something of that sort for the purpose of settlement which is not always that you have to give the opposite party an ultimatum. You can also ask/invite the opposite party for a settlement. It will not hamper your recourse to the legal remedies in case the notice fails.

Step 4

Subsequently, you have to sign as an advocate. This part of the notice is also very important, especially nowadays this part of the notice is an invoke and in this, you have to clearly state that you are issuing the notice under the instructions of your client and you have to obtain the signature of your client. This would act as an estoppel as against your client from saying that the notice was not directed to issue by him because quite often this happens that if the advocate has faulted somewhere than the client alleges against the advocate and file complaints even before the consumer forum for deficiency in service. Therefore, if the signature of the client is taken then it stops the client from saying that he did not read the contents of the notice. If the client can’t read English, then it would be good if the contents of the notice are being read and explained to the client in whichever language he is comfortable with.

Conclusion

legal notice is a formal legal document that is being prepared by an advocate for his client. Though it is not mandatory to send legal notice before the filing of suit in all cases still it is considered as a very important document in the course of any legal proceedings as in most of the cases actual disputes or issues get resolved even without going to the court of law with a mere serving of the notice. The efficiency of a legal notice also depends on the drafting skills of an advocate, how he drafts the issues involved in a presentable manner for the receiver