September 6, 2022 In Advice and Consultancy

HOW TO DRAFT A LEGAL NOTICE

Introduction

All legal action can only be taken once notice has been served upon the entity or individual you wish to take to court. This procedure makes taking a case to court legal. The notification is referred to as a legal notice. Therefore, a legal notice is a formal communication sent to a person or an organisation informing them that legal action will be taken against them.

Sending this notice lets the other party know that you intend to bring a legal action and informs them of your complaint. A legal notice frequently works to subdue the opposing party, and the dispute is usually settled amicably and without a trial through constructive discussions on both sides before the case even reaches trial.

However, if the other party is still unheeding the grievance, one can always start the court proceedings after the prescribed interval as stated by law.

The bottom line is that a legal notice can serve as a point of reference to embark upon negotiations between two parties and save both the time, effort, and money that is usually spent in court cases.

Why it is important?

Drafting a legal notice is quintessential in a vast manner—formal legal information helps underline a sort of warning to the addressee. Sending a legal notice and how the other party acknowledges it decides the outcome. It tells whether the case can be sorted and put at a halt here or if this lawsuit needs to be taken to court and let the judge take action upon it. Ensure that the case falls under the category of civil cases to be eligible to send a legal notice.

“How to draft a legal notice?” is where people get mostly stuck. Therefore, we have prepared the entire article to make writing a legal notice much easier.

Importance of filing a Legal Notice

Certain situations may arise where you get confused about how to initiate legal action in order to resolve your matter. The filing of a legal notice gives a new beginning to your journey of litigation. Therefore it has various aspects in which it is important:

  • 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?

There are numerous reasons for which you can send a legal notice to a person or an entity. However, the most common ones are:

  • 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.

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 the court.

Essentials of Section 80 of Code of Civil Procedure, 1908

  1. Name, description, and place of residence of the sender of the notice.
  2. Statement of the cause of action.
  3. The relief claimed by the sender of the notice.
  4. Summary of the legal basis for the relief claimed.

Benefits of legal notice

There are the following benefits of a legal notice:

  • Compel the party

Legal notice compels the opposite party to negotiate the loss that occurred to the person who has sent the legal notice with the help of an advocate. 

The legal notice makes psychological pressure on the opposite party to solve the dispute with the help of mediation or any other way.

  • Works as solution

A person who sent the legal notice to the opposite party doesn’t need to be going to find civil litigation in court. The legal notice gives the solution or last chance to the opposite party e so that they can resolve their dispute outside the court mutually. But if the opposite party is not ready to resolve the dispute outside Court, then the plaintiff can file the plaint in the court of law.

Time and money-saving

In the present time, no one wants to go to court for litigation. Because the procedure of the court is the lengthiest process which takes time and money. But a legal notice camp saves your time and money because it gives you the way to solve the dispute without going to court. 

Collection of documents

Whenever a person goes to his advocate for sending the legal notice to the opposite party, the advocate asks about all the necessary documents and facts of the case. It helps you to collect all the necessary documents which may be necessary if you are going to find a civil suit against the opposite party. An advocate analyzes all the documents provided by you for sending the legal notice. The Advocate will tell you about the documentary evidence which is important for your case. 

One legal notice for more than one opponent

A benefit of legal notice is that you can send one legal notice for all the opponents by adding all the names of the opponents. 

Help to collect the evidence

Whenever you write facts in the legal notice and send it to your opponent party, he may accept or reject the facts written in the legal notice. Also, he can add new facts in the reply to the legal notice which can help you to collect the evidence related to the rejected, accepted or new facts given by the opposite party. The legal notice also is admissible evidence that can be used in the court case. So you should reply to the legal notice with the help of your advocate. 

Modes of sending a legal notice

After the drafting of legal notice with the help of an advocate, a person can send it to the opposite party with the help of the following mediums:

  • Registered post
  • Direct courier
  • Speed post
  • Email
  • Hand delivery
  • WhatsApp messaging

There are many judgments given by the Supreme Court of India related to the delivery of legal notice through email and WhatsApp messages. The chief justice of India observed that WhatsApp allowed users to turn off the blue tick feature in WhatsApp, and it will not give conclusive proof that the legal notice has been duly served. To solve this problem, the Supreme Court of India allowed the use of email or fax machines for the service of the summons and legal notice. The court left it for the case to case consideration if notices have been properly served or not. 

 Significant pointer to be kept in mind:

  • The whole process of sending a Legal Notice through Registered Post/ Courier can take around 5-7 working days.
  • English is the generally accepted language of sending a Legal Notice in India.
  • No documents or annexures are required to be sent along with the Legal Notice to the other party.
  • It is not mandatory to reply to a Legal Notice, but it is always advisable to reply appropriately after consulting with an advocate. His writing skills and use of legal language can create an impact on the receiver.
  • The Supreme Court of India has recognized the Legal Notices sent through WhatsApp, Telegram, E-mail, or Fax. The two blue ticks on WhatsApp signify the receipt of the notice. The Bombay High Court, in the matter of SBI Cards (P) Ltd. Vs. Rohit Jadhav, observed that if a person received a Legal Notice on WhatsApp and he has opened it; it will be deemed that the Legal Notice is served upon him.
  • If the sender is aware of the recipient’s alternative address, it must also be mentioned on the notice to ensure that the notice reaches him.
  • There is no set format of a Legal Notice. It depends on the drafting skills and command on the laws and language of the advocate.

Filing a Legal Notice

A legal notice, although a simple document, requires precision and accuracy and the use of definite language to ensure the message sent across is correct. A legal expert or an agent can help in putting forth the legal notice as per law and wording it as required for the particular issue.

Procedure

  • The first step is to draft a legal notice, with the issue, the relief sought, and a definite time frame (say, 30 to 60 days) to solve the issue, to be addressed to the other party and sent through registered AD post
  • After sending the notice, save the copy of the receipt sent. This may come in handy in case of filing for the court case
  • Wait for the stipulated period before filing the court case
  • Now, the person or entity on whom the notice was served will have the above mentioned days to reply to the notice or opt for an out-of-court settlement.

Even if the other party were to ignore a legal notice, it is essential for the aggrieved party to open up grievances through the medium of a legal notice. If the other party were not to reply to a notice, they are likely to be at a disadvantage when appearing in court.

Legal notice can be sent personally too. One can draft a legal notice and authorize it before sending it to the other party. However, since wording, a legal notice is extremely important if the case reaches court, and citing of the law under which you have raised the claim is essential, having a legal expert draft your legal notice will work to your advantage.

The same applies to replying to a legal notice too, since here too one may not know the appropriate law to be used to respond to the claims demanded by the other party.

The legal notice format is drafted in the section below and is a sample of an appropriate legal notice format for the recovery of money.

Siddharth jain and Co.

Siddharth Jain & Co. is a full service law firm providing quality and innovative legal solutions to clients all over the world. Our portfolio of legal and quasi-legal services is offered through our head office in New Delhi. Siddharth Jain & Co. was established in 2015. We have a team of lawyers with expertise in different fields. Our expertise revolves around 39 service areas and we continue to enter into new markets continuously. We continue to join new prospects and new clients with us every passing day due to our commitment to quality-based services. Our idea of working involves strict adherence to specified goals and creative modes of achieving them. Siddharth Jain & Co. has always worked towards attaining excellence in every case or problem presented. We continue to strive to become the leader in providing legal services in the country and abroad. Our clientele includes clients from all over the world. With several awards in our profile, we proudly continue to move forward. We are always ready and prepared to welcome and embrace any new challenge. We have worked with and for government agencies. We have worked in rural areas beyond any reach of technology. We have worked with clients alien to law whatsoever. But we have always maintained our prime goal and target of client satisfaction and would continue to go so in future.

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