如何撰写律师函(英)

ce, sending documents, obtaining information. All letters benefit from clear writing and simple organization. Lawyers who write direct and concise letters to nonlawyers are more likely to achieve successful results.

　　Writing letters is no different from other lawyering skills. The demand letter that the recipient cannot understand is no more effective than a shouting match. If you want a shouting match, then by all means write long letters with big words that no one understands. But if compliance is what you really want, then writing a letter that the recipient understands is really the order of the day.

　　附录一：SAMPLE CONTRACT ADVICE LETTER

　　? Copyright 1999 by James W. Martin All rights reserved.

　　St. Petersburg, Florida

　　Note: This article is for background purposes only and is not intended as legal advice.

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　　[Letterhead]

　　[Date_________]

　　CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION

　　DO NOT COPY OR DISCLOSE TO ANYONE ELSE

　　[Client_________]

　　[Address_________]

　　Re: [Client/Matter_________]

　　Dear _________:

　　Enclosed are copies of the following that I received yesterday:

　　Letter from [Name_________] dated _________

　　Draft of [Title_________] Contract

　　Schedule A to Contract

　　Schedule B to Contract

　　The following are my comments concerning these documents:

　　Read the Documents. I strongly advise that you read each of these documents. I have read them, and this letter sets forth my thoughts, but you may think of other questions when you read them. You have special knowledge about your business that I do not have, and your special knowledge may lead you to see potential problems in these documents that I could not see. So, please read these documents, jot down questions while you read them, and then call me to discuss them.

　　Term. The Term seems to me to be rather short. Perhaps the Term should be longer.

　　Price. The Price is not clearly defined. The Contract refers to unit price but does not define what is a unit.

　　[Etc.]

　　Please call me after you read this letter and its enclosures.

　　Very truly yours,

　　[Lawyer _________]

　　Enclosures

　　~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

　　附录二：SAMPLE CONTRACT NEGOTIATION LETTER

　　? Copyright 1999 by James W. Martin All rights reserved.

　　St. Petersburg, Florida

　　Note: This article is for background purposes

only and is not intended as legal advice.

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　　[Letterhead]

　　[Date_________]

　　[Name_________]

　　[Address_________]

　　Re: [Client/Matter_________]

　　Dear _________:

　　This confirms that I received your [Date_________] letter and its enclosed draft of the [Title_________] Contract. I have read the draft, discussed it with my client [Client_________], and have the following initial comments that we will need to resolve before we can move ahead with negotiating the finer points of the Contract:

　　Term. The Term would need to be at least _________ years before my client could seriously consider entering into the Contract.

　　Unit Price. The Unit Price would need to be at least $_________ before my client could consider the Contract financially feasible.

　　Controlling Law. My client does business only in the State of Florida and does not desire to engage a lawyer in [State_________], so the Contract will need to provide that Florida law controls.

　　Publicity. My client requests that the last sentence of paragraph 3 on page 2 of the Contract be changed to read as follows: _________.

　　Please discuss these points with your client and let me know if your client is willing to pursue negotiation of a Contract along these lines.

　　Very truly yours,

　　[Lawyer _________]

　　cc: [Client_________]

　　~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

　　附录三：SAMPLE COVER LETTER

　　? Copyright 1999 by James W. Martin All rights reserved.

　　St. Petersburg, Florida

　　Note: This article is for background purposes only and is not intended as legal advice.

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　　[Letterhead]

　　[Date_________]

　　CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION

　　[Client_________]

　　[Address_________]

　　Re: Estate Plan

　　Dear Mr. and Mrs. _________:

　　Enclosed are drafts of the following documents per my meeting with you on [Date_________]:

　　Mr. _________:

　　_________ TRUST with Schedules A and B

　　Last Will and Testament

　　Certificate of Trust Provisions

　　Transfer of Tangible Personal Property to Trust

　　General Durable Power of Attorney

　　Living Will

　　Designation of Health Care Surrogate

　　Declaration of Preneed Guardian

　　Declaration of Preneed Guardian for Minor

　　Asset Transfer List

　　Account Transfer Letter

　　Securities Transfer Letter

　　Mrs. _________:

　　_________ TRUST with Schedules A and B

　　Last Will and Testament

　　Certificate of Trust Provisions

　　Transfer of Tangible Personal Property to Trust

　　General Durable Power of Attorney

　　Living Will

　　Designation of Health Care Surrogate

　　Declaration of Preneed Guardian

　　Declaration of Preneed Guardian for Minor

　　Asset Transfer List

　　Account Transfer Letter

　　Securities Transfer Letter

　　Both:

　　Tenancy by the Entirety Agreement

　　Please read these drafts carefully and call me when you are ready to discuss or sign them in my office. Please consider the following:

　　Joint Representation. I am representing both of you in preparing the above documents. If a controversy ever develops between the two of you concerning these documents, I would not be able to represent either of you in that controversy.

　　No Other Children. The documents were drafted with the understanding that only your children _________ and _________ are to be beneficiaries because you do not pla

n to have any more children naturally or by adoption.

　　Florida Residency. The enclosed documents are specifically for Florida residents. If you ever move out of Florida, I advise that you see a lawyer in that state and make new wills and related documents because all fifty states' laws differ. For example, Vermont and Louisiana require more than two witnesses for a will to be valid, so the enclosed wills might not be valid if you reside in Vermont or Louisiana at the time of your death.

　　No Unified Credit Trusts. You could take advantage of the unified credit for estate and gift taxes in a number of ways. This credit allows passing $_________ (increasing to $1,000,000 by 2006) in assets by each of you without estate or gift taxes. However, at the present time, you have decided not to create any trusts that would take advantage of the unified credit.

　　Tenancy by the Entirety. You plan to hold some of your assets in your joint names as tenants by the entirety. Florida recognizes this for both real property and personal property, but it is important that you designate this on your title

　　documents as follows:

　　_________ AND _________, HUSBAND AND WIFE, AS TENANTS BY THE ENTIRETY

　　Car Titles and Insurance. I advised that each of your cars be owned only by the principal driver. Florida's dangerous instrumentality doctrine holds all owners liable along with the driver. I also advised that you carry an umbrella liability insurance policy with coverage limit of One Million Dollars or more. You should also carry uninsured motorist coverage in this amount (it would pay you if you were injured by an uninsured motorist). All of these ideas are intended to reduce the possibility of your losing your estate through unexpected claims.

　　FDIC Limits. We discussed the importance of your continuing not to place more than $100,000 in any bank since you should not count on the FDIC protecting more than this amount no matter how the accounts are titled.

　　Prior Wills. When you come in to sign the final documents, please bring in your prior wills so that they can be torn up AFTER the new ones are signed.

　　Scope of Representation. The scope of my representation does not include advice or services regarding the following: accounting, tax, financial, business, management, and related non-legal matters and advice (I advise that you engage a CPA, tax attorney or business consultant to advise you regarding these matters); title searches, surveys, inspections and other non-legal work relating to real estate (I advise that you engage a title insurance company, abstractor, surveyor or other licensed professional to provide you these services); securities, labor and o

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