Attorney demand letters: what are they and how they work

I will explain the basics of attorney demand letters, how they work, and anything else you probably would need know.

1. What is an attorney demand letter?

An attorney demand letter is any letter from an attorney demanding some type of relief. This can be monetary relief, equitable relief, or anything really (provided no laws or ethical rules are violated).

Monetary relief is straight forward. The attorney demands money from the recipient on behalf of their client for damage their client experienced or money owed. Often the attorney will ask that the money be sent by check to the attorney or law firm’s trust account. Once the attorney receives the money from the recipient they will return it to the client. Depending on the client’s arrangement with he attorney, the attorney keep a portion of the funds received to cover the attorney’s fees or costs.

An example of a demand letter seeking equitable relief would be a cease and desist letter. In these type of letters, the attorney is not necessary asking the recipient to pay money but to abstain from doing a certain action. For example, this could mean asking the recipient to stop defaming the attorney’s client. or if someone is using a symbol similar to a trademark you own, an attorney would ask them to cease and desist from using that trademark.

For the most part, there are no any formal requirements that go into an attorney demand. Instead, the way the letter is crafted is largely dependent on the attorneys own personal style. However, in some cases, where the demand letter is being made pursuant to a statute, there can be certain formal requirements that need to be followed in order to comply with the statute. This is where hiring an attorney is helpful.

2. Do attorney demand letters work?

Generally speaking, yes. There is no guaranteed success, but they are generally more successful when an attorney sends a demand as opposed to a non-attorney sending one on their own. There are a few reasons why an attorney demand is generally more successful than a client’s own demand.

• First, the attorney is usually better able then the client to frame the client’s legal position and demand. Part of the reason for this is that an attorney knows or is able to research the law and can analyze the client’s situation based on the attorneys’ experience and knowledge. As a result, it can be easier for the attorney advocate on behalf of the client. A client might not be able to recognize of all legal factors involved in their issues which might cause them to omit certain things that could help them or include certain things that could hurt them.
• Second, the attorneys are usually more skilled when it comes to writing. A non-attorney could convey something in their language that they did not intend that could hurt their case. Certain words could also have legal connotations that the non-attorney is unfamiliar with.
• Third, demand letters tend to be scarier when coming from an attorney. When the recipient sees a letter signed by an attorney and written on law firm letter head, it reflects that the sender feels strong enough about their case to hire an attorney. It also reflects that the attorney feels strong enough about their client’s position that they are willing to take on their case.
• Fourth, an attorney demand letter conveys to the other side that the cost of their behavior of the parties’ dispute is likely to increase. What I mean by this is that if the recipient knows or sees an attorney is involved, they will feel compelled to hire their own attorney either to explain to them their own liability or to respond to the sender’s demand letter. At this juncture the recipient then has to make a decision whether to (a) give into the demand; (b) spend money to hire an attorney; or (c) avoid or reject the demand whatever is being threatened in the demand letter and deal with the consequences.

3. What happens after a demand letter is sent?

After the demand is sent the attorney typically waits to get a response. In order to encourage a response, sometimes the attorney will put a demand in the letter for the recipient to respond by a certain date. There’s no grantee the recipient will comply. If the recipient ignores, the attorney can follow up with them by phone or by another correspondence to ensure they received the demand and to reiterate the contents of the demand letter.

4. Do you need an attorney to write a demand letter?

No. With that said, demand letters carry more strength when written and signed by an attorney. People tend to take them more seriously as it reflects that the other side believes strongly enough in the strength of their case to hire an attorney.
Also in certain circumstances a demand letter is governed by statute. For example, one such circumstance would be in the context of personal injury protection (“PIP”). PIP is largely governed by Florida Statute 627.736. When someone is considering filing suit for an underpaid or unpaid PIP claim, they need to send our a type of demand letter first. Per the statute, there are specific things that must be included in a PIP demand letter before a PIP lawsuit can be filed. This includes things like claim number or policy number and the name of an insured and other pertinent information. If a letter is sent that does not comply with these requirements, the lawsuit could end up being thrown out.

5. How much does an attorney demand letter cost?

This will vary depending on your case. Generally speaking, $200 would be at the bottom of what someone could expect to pay for an attorney demand letter.
Factors that would need to be considered include the complexity of your case and the practice area. Attorneys typically charge by the hour so the situation that is complex or involves novel legal issues would usually result in the demand being higher than $200.

Some matters, like personal injury matters or collections matters can be handled by contingency. This means an attorney could work out an arrangement with the client where they write the demand in exchange for receiving a portion of whatever monetary relief they are able to obtain for the client. This can be good for the client because the client doesn’t have to pay any money upfront and can only win. It also means the attorney will have an extra incentive to ask for a high demand and write a good letter.
Contingency is not always possible. If the amount is too low relative to the difficulty of the case or likelihood of success, the attorney might not find contingency worth it.

6. Is it worth it to pay an attorney to do a demand letter?

It really depends on a number of factors including: (1) the facts of your case; (2) whether the other side has an attorney or not; (3) how risk averse is the other side.