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The formal demand that usually precedes a suit. It is worth having drafted by a lawyer, because the language of a legal notice is the whole of it.
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A formal written demand sent to the other side before legal proceedings, setting out the grievance and what you want done about it.
A legal notice is a document sent to the person against whom you are about to file legal proceedings, in a matter you are not legally satisfied about. It is drafted on plain paper, sent on the lawyer’s letterhead, and it is the first step in most litigation.
It is not always compulsory, and where it is, that comes from a specific statute rather than from a general rule. A notice is mandatory before suing the government or a public officer, and it is a precondition under particular provisions, section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, for a dishonoured cheque, being the one people meet most often.
Where it is not compulsory it is still usually worth sending, and not only as a formality. Most disputes settle at this stage, and a notice that sets out the facts cleanly is the cheapest opportunity the other side will get to resolve the matter.
This is the notice. Representing you in the proceedings that may follow is a separate engagement, so say so on the call if that is where this is going.
What was agreed, what was done, what was not. A notice that opens with indignation and gets to the facts on the second page is one the other side’s lawyer enjoys receiving.
A specific sum, a specific act, by a specific date. "Take appropriate steps" gives the other side nothing to do and you nothing to enforce.
Registered post with acknowledgement due, or a courier that gives you tracking. A notice the other side can say they never received has not been sent.
It will be annexed to the plaint. Every claim in it should be one you can prove, and nothing in it should be a threat you do not intend to carry out.
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Not generally. It is mandatory before suing the government or a public officer, and some statutes make it a precondition: a notice under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act for a dishonoured cheque is the common example.
Elsewhere it is optional and usually still worth sending, because most disputes settle at this stage.
Fifteen to thirty days is normal, and the notice should state the period rather than leaving it open.
Where a statute fixes the period, that governs. For a dishonoured cheque, for instance, the notice itself has to be sent within a set time of the return.
You proceed. The notice, and the proof that it was delivered, are annexed to the case, and an unanswered notice is a useful thing to be able to show a court.
You can. The reason we advise against it is that the language of a legal notice is the substance of it: a notice that overstates the claim, threatens something unlawful, or admits a fact by accident is worse than none.
It is also the document the other side’s lawyer reads first, and it sets the tone for everything after it.
By a lawyer, because on this document the wording is the whole thing.
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