Legal Guide

5 Tips on Writing a Letter to an Attorney

All people are equal, but sometimes the empowered individuals forget about it. They discriminate against others, and such situations must involve the attorney’s service. Professionals know how to protect their clients. Students might face financial problems when paying rent and bills, or taking credits to cover tuition and other things. Some individuals might need a lawyer’s protection when teachers accuse learners of plagiarism or underestimate them because of personal reasons.

Unfortunately, even in the XXI century, students still might face various discriminations like:

  • gender
  • race
  • disability
  • religious
  • sexual orientation
  • national origin
  • pregnancy

In these cases, students need to hire a person who can legally protect their interests and rights. Consequently, they must write a letter to their attorney. Informal letters are possible between a client and a lawyer, who have long and positive professional relations based on trust. In other cases, students require official letters that verify their application, claim, or question. Otherwise, it will be impossible to prove the unprofessionalism of the chosen lawyer. 

Besides, a person pays for expert opinion and support. Official letters and responses make this collaboration legal, official, and easier to control. A professional letter writing service like CustomWritings helps students prevent serious mistakes and express the claim, request, or answer clearly to prevent misunderstandings. These are recommendations of experts who are aware of formal writing details.

Tip 1. Decide whether to make it official or informal 

Some cases allow informal chatting. For example, a person wants to ask some simple question such as “Is there any news on my case?” As a rule, a lawyer must regularly consult a client concerning the case. The attorney should discuss the current situation and warn about problems or send information about changes. If an expert does not do that and does not respond, then it will be better to write a formal letter. If there is no answer, a student will need to terminate the contract.

If students have to ask a new question or want to get an official response, it will be necessary to write a formal letter and keep to the formatting requirements. Official chatting is safer. Personal conversations are not secure from data leakage, while official ones do not allow attorneys to share information with not-involved parties. When attorneys need some extra facts, they will send a letter with questions. It will be necessary to consider the structure and write back using the same format.

Tip 2. Start with an official address

First off, a student needs to mention an official personal address at the beginning of the letter. To upgrade conversational opportunities, one should add an email address and a phone number. Email letters can be printed if required. They have the same value as paper ones because there is a sender and a receiver. Phone calls are for discussions and emergencies. For instance, a lawyer or a client must have some documents or information right now. They call and ask to send copies or bring original documents. 

Such requests do not demand an official presentation unless a client wants to terminate a collaboration and wants to get all the documents back. This case requires official letters because an attorney can return everything regarding the legal written request but not oral agreements. Lawyers will also return the documents with a supporting letter or a document, which the client will verify with signature.

Tip 3. Include the name of the organization and the lawyer

Just like any other paper or email, a letter to an attorney must have his or her name and address. Besides, it will be necessary to mention the date before that. Your contact details, data, and information about the attorney are to be presented on the left. Sometimes, it is better to mention the case number because attorneys can deal with several cases. The case number speeds up the process. Lawyers just check up the number and answer the questions.

Moreover, some attorneys have secretaries who systematize information. If a student does not know the case number, it will be a good idea to use a bold or underlined sentence that informs about the client and the name of the case (race discrimination, accuse of plagiarism, etc.).

Tip 4. Be precise 

Now it is time to describe the situation. A student greets the lawyer and briefly explains the reason for the official letter sending. An average letter to an attorney consists of the next three sections.

  1. Introduction - greeting - Dear Mr./Mrs. X
  2. Body:
  • start with the most important details (I want to ask about … because..)
  • the reason for the inquiry is…
  •  
  1. Conclusion, name, and address of the sender.

One should keep in mind that simple language is better than complex in this case. The attorney must understand what a client wants or needs to help quickly. Too complex sentences and lexis will force him or her to ask for more details to get the point. Otherwise, they may misunderstand each other and delay the solution. 

Official letters are precise and to the point. One should not retell the information the attorney already knows. The letter must not have information that has no relation to the case. 

Good example: I need my case papers back because I move to another country and there will be no opportunity for cooperation.

Bad example: I want to receive an education abroad. I have found a university that corresponds to my requirements. It is cheaper, and I can become a doctor faster due to a super offer for international students. That is why I cannot go on our client-attorney relations. It will be hard to communicate and exchange files. Besides, their law differs a bit from ours here.

Tip 5. Finish a Letter and make a copy

One should not forget to end the letter (Respectfully, John or Sincerely, Monika) and make a copy. Some attorneys are mere cheaters. Students must have a copy to prove that they have asked questions or send files that are not to be spread according to the confidentiality agreement. Besides, one will not have to write the letter again in case of delivery problems or Internet problems.


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