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1、2019 年怎样样撰写律师函（英）TO WRITE LETTERS NONLAWYERS WILL READNote： This article is for background purposes only and is not intended as legal advice.Why do people hate to get letters from lawyers ？ They carry bad news. They mean serious business. Theyre hard to understand. They use strange words. They carry
2、 the inherent threat of suit.Why do lawyers send such letters？They mean serious business，and theyintend to sue.But must they use those ancient， strange words and be so hard tounderstand ， or can lawyers express serious business and imminent suit usingwords everyone knows？Whether writing a demand let
3、ter to a contract breacher to a client ， or a cover letter to a court clerk， an advice letter， the letter fails if theperson receiving it cannot understand what it says.All of these letters have one thing in common： They are not greatliterature. They will not be read in a hundred years and analyzed
4、for theirwit ， charm or flowery words. With any luck they will be read just once by afew people ， followed quickly by their intended result， whether that becompliance ， understanding or agreement.Lawyers are Letter FactoriesLawyers write many， many letters. An average for me might be five lettersa d
5、ay. This includes advice letters， cover letters， demand letters， allsorts of letters. Some days have more， some have less， but five is a fairlyconservative average， I would think. Five letters a day for five days a weekfor fifty weeks a year is 1， 250 letters a year. This is my 25th year inpractice，
6、 so it is quite conceivable that I have written 31， 250 letters sofar.Why do lawyers write so many letters？ A primary reason lies within theethics of our profession. Florida Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 4-1.4 says ：“A lawyer shall keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a mat
7、ter and promptly comply with reasonable requests for information.”“A lawyer shall expl ain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation.”While clients can be kept informed and given explanations orally，lawyerscertainly know
8、the value of the printed word over the spoken word：it is notas easily forgotten or misunderstood. Letters also create a record of advicegiven ， which is useful to both the lawyer and the client. That is why letters are the preferred method of keeping clients informed and giving clients explanations.
9、Some Things To Do Before WritingBefore you start writing the letter it makes sense to do some preliminary background work.Find a letter form. Find a similar letter you have sent in the pastsee the Appendix to this article for sample engagement，contract negotiation， contract advice， and fax letters.c
10、over， demand，orReview prior letters to this recipient. In a busy world， it is easy toforget. Review prior letters to remind yourself where you are in the workprocess ， what has already been said， and what remains to be said. This willgive your letter direction and purpose.Do not send a letter to ano
11、ther lawyers client without that lawyersconsent. Before sending the letter ， find out if the nonlawyer is represented by someone else. Start by asking your client. Florida Bar Rules ofProfessional Conduct Rule 4-4.2 says：“In representing a client，a lawyer shall not communicate about thesubject of th
12、e representation with a person the lawyer knows to be representedby another lawyer in the matter ， unless the lawyer has the consent of the other lawyer. ”Outline your thoughts in a checklist. Before turning on your computer or dictating machine ， pull out a yellow pad and jot down the main points f
13、or your letter. List what you want the letter to say. Write the points in anyorder ； write them as they come into your mind. You can rearrange them when you write the letter. Right now youre just making a checklist for writing the letter.Keep the legal pad close at hand. When you run out of ideas fo
14、r thechecklist， put the pad at the side of your desk. New ideas always springforth when writing. Jot these down on the pad as you write the letter； theyare easily forgotten.Simple Stuff That Will Make You Look Dumb If Its WrongLetters begin with boring things like the date and recipients name andadd
15、ress ， but if any of these are missing or wrong the letter writer will lookpretty careless， to say the least. So be careful when starting the letter，and you can even include some extra things that will make the letter even better than the regular letters the recipient receives.Date your letter. Date your letter the da
