Do i need to reply to Solicitors Letter?

superyoung

Hi everyone,

I recently received a solicitors letter accusing me of things i did not do. There is absolutely no evidence to prove anything and many of my friends beleive its more to scare me than anything. The letter is very threatening and demands me to pay money.

I know in my heart i have dont nothing wrong and i beleive its more of a case of someone trying to be nasty. What i wanted to ask was:

a) Can I ignore it? Does a solicitors letter require a reply?

b) If not how long do i have to reply e.g 2 weeks or 2 months.

c) For something to go to court does there need to be evidence produced first and does it have to be Black and White e.g. not hearsay?

I dont want to fall into a trap and replying back and forth wasting money when i dont need too. I already have an appointment with FLAC and they even told me over the phone that it sounds like it would not even go to court.

What do you think?

regards

SuperYoung

source

superyoung wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I recently received a solicitors letter accusing me of things i did not do. There is absolutely no evidence to prove anything and many of my friends beleive its more to scare me than anything. The letter is very threatening and demands me to pay money.

I know in my heart i have dont nothing wrong and i beleive its more of a case of someone trying to be nasty. What i wanted to ask was:

a) Can I ignore it? Does a solicitors letter require a reply?

b) If not how long do i have to reply e.g 2 weeks or 2 months.

c) For something to go to court does there need to be evidence produced first and does it have to be Black and White e.g. not hearsay?

I dont want to fall into a trap and replying back and forth wasting money when i dont need too. I already have an appointment with FLAC and they even told me over the phone that it sounds like it would not even go to court.

What do you think?

regards

SuperYoung

Get your own solicitor and reply through him.

MagicSean

I am not aware of any legal obligation to reply to a solicitors letter however it is not a good idea to ignore it.

professore

Go to the FLAC meeting and let them sort it out. Probably someone bluffing. Solicitors will put pretty much anything in a letter that the client tells them.

superyoung

This is what im thinking, that its just a bluff as im being accused of things i actually have not done.

How quickly should i reply and what is actually needed to bring it to court?

Surely a case is not taken if there is no evidence in the first place, that has to be wasting the courts time.

Im starting to think the solicitor that wrote the letter just did it for the money, there is even a obvious spelling mistake in the letter.

themadhair

It all depends on the circumstances. A lot of such letters are complete bluff in my experience. I’ve ignored more than a few over the years with no consequences, but it really depends on your particular situation.

The golden rule is that if you are doubt get yourself some legal advice.

superyoung

Well im going to FLAC on wednesday to make sure and get peace of mind but i dont doubt myself what so ever.

The letter is coming from someone i actually know very well and beleive this is a act of spite more than anything.

Im guessing there is no immeadiate rush if i do decide to make a reply but im starting to beleive i dont need too.

MagicSean

Is it a criminal or civil accusation?

coylemj

First of all there is absolutely no legal obligation on you to reply to a solicitor's letter. Secondly, it may or may not be a good tactic to ignore it. If the claim is completely outrageous and without foundation it might be in your best interests to treat it with the contempt it deserves and ignore it.

If you ignore a solicitor's threatening letter then that can be interpreted by the solicitor that you're not treating it seriously, of course it could also mean that you're a person who sticks his head in the sand. If you decide to reply to the letter then you need to be careful what you say because any perceived weakness in your statement of the facts could be interpreted by the other side as showing that you could be persuaded to cave in and offer cash to make the problem go away so they'll keep coming after you with more letters and threats of court action.

If you do reply you need to come out with all guns blazing, stating that if they take a case you will vigorously defend any such action and that as you feel the other side's case is so weak that you will ask the judge that an amount to cover your costs should be lodged in court in advance of the hearing as you are 100% sure that their case is so weak that you will be awarded costs. While you may or may not be able to get away with this in court, threaten it anyway, that should scare them off.

superyoung

Its not criminal lol.

And i do feel its completely outrageous. Thats some great advice coylemj.

drkpower

superyoung wrote: »

I recently received a solicitors letter accusing me of things i did not do.

^
This, closely followed by this.......:

There is absolutely no evidence to prove anything

......always makes me a little suspicious.

superyoung

no need to be suspicious as i was only stressing the point.

tricky D

If unfortunately the issue does end up in court, the judge will consider your attempts or lack of, to remedy the situation. This implies that you shouldn't ignore the letter.

superyoung

how quick would you need to make a reply then?

leeroybrown

Certainly no sooner than your Wednesday meeting at the FLAC. I'd suggest that you provide them with all the facts then listen to their expert opinion the decide how to proceed. I'm not sure what anyone qualified or unqualified can really suggest here right now other than to do that.

coylemj

tricky D wrote: »

If unfortunately the issue does end up in court, the judge will consider your attempts or lack of, to remedy the situation. This implies that you shouldn't ignore the letter.

That is a one-sided view of things, the OP is well entitled to go into court (if it comes to that) and offer up the opinion that the accusation in the solicitor's letter was so laughably false and exaggerated that he was well within his rights to treat it as a nuisance claim and ignore it.

The view that you are adopting is that by ignoring the claim the OP is going to inflame the situation, piss off the judge and come out worse as a result. Based on his clear view that the claim against him has no basis in fact I think he does need to be intimidated into replying to the letter in an appeasing fashion which I think you're implying that he should, that would be perceived as weakness by the other side and would undermine his position.

If the other side had a valid claim and eventually won a case in court then certainly the judge might take a harsh view of the OP's reluctance to get engaged but from what he is saying about the lack of merit of the case that doesn't look like a likely outcome.

tricky D

coylemj wrote: »

That is a one-sided view of things, the OP is well entitled to go into court (if it comes to that) and offer up the opinion that the accusation in the solicitor's letter was so laughably false and exaggerated that he was well within his rights to treat it as a nuisance claim and ignore it.

The view that you are adopting is that by ignoring the claim the OP is going to inflame the situation, piss off the judge and come out worse as a result. Based on his clear view that the claim against him has no basis in fact I think he does need to be intimidated into replying to the letter in an appeasing fashion which I think you're implying that he should, that would be perceived as weakness by the other side and would undermine his position.

If the other side had a valid claim and eventually won a case in court then certainly the judge might take a harsh view of the OP's reluctance to get engaged but from what he is saying about the lack of merit of the case that doesn't look like a likely outcome.

Thanks, you're quite right. I should have said 'might, depending on the complaint' instead of 'will'.