Letters for Lawyers: ConveyancingEvery letter that you write creates a permanent record of the information it contains. Accordingly, it is important to ensure that it accurately reflects your ideas and communicates in a way that satisfies the needs of your reader. Letters also convey an image of the writer and of his or her competence and professionalism. Clearly, it is in your interest to use your letters to create a positive impression.de Groot and Maxwell, Legal Letter Writing, 1994Here's to plain language and clear understanding.Kaspar Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet) to Sam Slade (Humphrey Bogart), proposing a toast, in The Maltese Falcon.Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.Sir Winston ChurchillBroadcast address, 9 February 1941Words are a lawyer's tools of trade. Precedents are the templates used to leverage the lawyer's skills and letters are the basic tools of legal practice. Yet often we put much more effort and sophistication into our computerised delivery systems than into our precedents. It takes time and skill to write letters that are concise and plain but also comprehensive and it is hard to find time to keep your letters up-to-date.This book of letters will test the legal profession's interest in practical tools to do the job by offering templates for that deceptively commonplace legal task called conveyancing.The letters are written by a lawyer keen on plain language and have been refined over 30 years of daily application. They can save you time, make you money and let you sleep more soundly at night by providing you and your staff with inbuilt checklists. They can help you build your reputation with your clients for thoroughness and clarity, while evincing and adding to the value of your services. |
Contents
CV30 | 12 |
CV50 | 18 |
CV90 | 26 |
CV130 | 35 |
CV150 | 43 |
CV180 Letter to mortgagee bank for discharge | 52 |
CV210 Letter of advice about early possession | 56 |
CV270 Order on the tenant | 66 |
CP110 | 115 |
CP160 | 125 |
CP190 Letter sending transfer and requesting settlement | 131 |
CP220 Letter to purchaser sending copy of replies to requisitions | 141 |
CP250 Letter sending draft settlement statement to vendors | 152 |
CP270 Bill for purchase and mortgage | 159 |
CP300 Letter to mortgagees solicitors giving settlement details | 165 |
CP340 Letter to client reporting completion | 171 |
CV300 Bill to vendor when no previous bill sent | 73 |
CP10 | 79 |
Special clause Noncontamination | 85 |
CP50 | 102 |
CP80 | 108 |
LT10 Letter sending draft lease to tenants solicitor | 177 |
LT40 Letter to tenant about lease | 190 |
LT50 Bill for tenant client | 201 |
Common terms and phrases
ADDRESS agent agreed allow amount apply appointed approval arrange attached authority bank building certificate buyer charges cheque clause client completion confirm consent contract copy costs council cover Dear decide deposit directions disclosure statement documents draft easements enclose exchange exchange of contracts faithfully Solicitor finance give given inspection instructions interest invested issue keep land landlord lease lender Letter liability loan Manager means months mortgage notice Office option owner paid payment period possession prepared proposed purchase questions rates reasonable recommend registration rent Retail risk says sell seller settlement settlement statement share signed Solicitor or firm stamp survey report telephone tenant transfer vendor written