What Is A Legal Notice?
A legal notice is a formal communication to a person or entity informing them that you intend to undertake legal proceedings against him/her. It is a step taken before filing a suit, and is meant to warn the other party that legal action may be taken against him/her, if they fail to comply with some specified condition.
In What Cases Can We Send A Legal Notice?
The most common cases where I have engaged with my clients in sending legal notices is in cases of property disputes, Dishonour of Cheques, family disputes pertaining to asset distributions, husband-wife conflicts (as a warning before taking legal action against the spouse), consumer complaints and cases where salary/wage commitments are not met.
How To Send A Legal Notice/What Is The Process For Sending A Legal Notice?
Many a time, we do not know the legal importance and meaning of the words we normally use in a casual manner. Engaging a qualified lawyer helps while drafting a legal notice.
Extreme care is taken regarding the choice of words and language used, and the measures of caution about not admitting any fact that may later be denied to you in a court of law. Once a legal notice is dispatched, you cannot make any changes in it. Neither can you make any statement contradictory to what you have already stated in the notice, at a later period. The notice is sent on a plain paper or on the letterhead of the lawyer.
Step 1
Connect with a lawyer who has good drafting skills. The notice can be sent in any Indian language, although usually, English is the preferred choice for my clients. The notice should be addressed to the person against whom you have the grievances.
Step 2
In your consulting session with the lawyer, please explain the information in detail – along with the names of parties involved, addresses, dates when commitments were made and not honoured, challenges and issues faced, any previous attempts at dialogue, etc.
Especially in cases of husband-wife disputes, I have observed that a legal notice often brings the spouse for negotiation. In many instances, disputes are resolved via counselling or mutual consent.
Step 3
The lawyer carefully studies the information you have shared, makes the relevant and required notes in the conversation with you, and seeks any additional information, if required.
Step 4
The lawyer then drafts the notice in a legal language – clearly mentioning the reason for sending the notice, all previous communications regarding the cause of notice and to offer the addressee a reasonable time (say 15 or 30 or 60 days to settle the matter through negotiation and by performing the desired action).
Depending on the grievance, usually, the lawyers, on behalf of the client sending the notice, stress on the need for an action to be taken in the stipulated period of time to either fulfill the demand or seek a reply.
Step 5
The notice is duly signed by both the client and the lawyer. It is either sent via registered post or courier, and the acknowledgement is retained. Usually, a copy of the notice is retained by the lawyer.
Step 6
The expectation is that after the notice is received by the other party, they will reply back. But, as a standard (and often, the best) practice, the lawyer calls up the other party in some time. Ethically, I believe that it’s a good practice to follow. Especially in cases of husband-wife conflicts, I usually call up the person (to whom the notice is sent), requesting to come up for counselling or a discussion, and try to resolve matters out of court.
What Should You Do After Receiving A Legal Notice?
In case you are not the sender but have instead received a legal notice, the steps to be followed are as follows:
Step 1
Unlike the traditional advice, you needn’t always consult a lawyer after receiving a legal notice. You can opt to call up the party concerned (who has sent you the notice) to amicably settle the matter and resolve the same in the best interests of time and money.
Step 2
If you believe that the notice sent or the information in the notice is not accurate, and you need to contest and require legal help, approach a qualified lawyer who can take the necessary actions. The first step (after reaching the lawyer) is to share your side of the story and the facts with the dates and time when the events occurred. This is to help your lawyer review the notice you have received and draft a reply based on the facts collected from you.
Step 3
In this case too, the lawyer will send the reply to the notice via courier or registered post. A copy of the notice sent and received are both retained in the lawyer’s office, along with the acknowledgement receipts for all the communications. Your lawyer will also sometimes communicate with the lawyer of the other party to enable a smooth flow and try resolving matters at your end.
The exchange of legal notices usually results in the commencement of litigation between the parties, as the party sending the notice may take recourse to civil/criminal law remedies.
Points To Remember
- The party being served with the lawsuit / notice is called “the respondent” or “defendant”. A legal notice may be responded to only if it has merit and needs to be replied to.
- One of the simplest reasons as to why legal notices are used deals with fairness. It is possible that the notice sent by the plaintiff may not reach the respondent; this can be due to change in address, location or information about the respondent that is not available to the plaintiff. So far, I have not come across such a situation, but there are definitely certain legal steps we can take in these situations.
- If the notice has substance – and the facts stated therein, if litigated against in the court, could go against you – then do consult a qualified and reputed lawyer who practises in the issues related to the notice being sent and discuss it with them. For example, if the notice concerns property disputes, visit a civil lawyer. On the other hand, if the notice is regarding family disputes, visit a lawyer who practises family law – and so on.
- Regarding the question of whether to reply to the notice or not, leave it to your lawyer. Your initial consultation with the lawyer will help you understand if the notice needs to be replied to (or not), and what the right steps are to resolve the issue at hand.
- In case the notice is converted into a suit, it’s mandatory for you to respond. Ensure that all your facts are in place – so that the next steps by your lawyer are advised in due course of action.
Legal notices are a vital principle of the courts in providing fairness and due process, by giving all the parties affected (by the lawsuit or legal proceeding) a notice of the legal procedure. No party can operate in secret – and all court actions must be apparent to all the parties to the case.
In my experience, particularly in matters of cheque defaults, family disputes and husband-wife conflicts, I have resolved matters before they reached the court through counselling and arbitration/mediation and mutual understanding. Legal notices have played a very vital role here. It all depends on how you draft it – the focus is on resolving the issue at hand and not to create tension.
You may wish to reach me at vermag@aol.in for further advice or guidance.
Shri Gopal Verma is an Advocate-on-Record with the Supreme Court of India.
_
Featured image used for representative purposes only.