How to write a correct and effective introductory letter to an attorney? Is the following a well-done example of a letter to a lawyer making an initial (or telephone or zoom-meeting follow-up inquiry about the lawyer taking a case? {name} Would your law firm have an interest in reviewing the extensive evidence we - identity - have in hand, in light of the possibility of initiating lucrative legal action against an Ohio business - identity - under Chapter 2741 of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) comprising sections 2741.01 thru 2741.99. Particularly relevant are 2741.02, 2741.06, and 2741.07. Will you kindly provide me with an opportunity to present our evidence? We will be genuinely grateful if you come to see that we are authentic traditional jewelry-making craftswomen who have been grievously wronged. Our hope is to redeem the good name of our cooperative in the market of humanitarian fashion vs. businesses counterfeiting our identity. We only want to be in our home workshops alongside our families earning a life of dignity as an jewelry-making artisan, so nobody needs to migrate. To accomplish this, we find ourselves forced to learn how to sue an ex-customer using the images of our families for commercial purposes. This bad practice seems to closely fit the letter of the cited law. If this suit suceeds, it could become very lucrative for the lawyers. If you give me a chance to explain, I'll show you what I mean by this. Please allow me to provide you with what you want to know about our case. Attentively, {name of the President and legal representative of Cooperative}
I think you would do much better to describe the situation, and the result you wish to achieve. Include enough detail for the lawyer to understand the nature of the case, but keep it brief. More details should come once the lawyer has agreed to take the case, or to give you an interview/consultation to discuss it. Later in your letter, if you like, you might include &quot;We understand that ORC 2741.02, 2741.06, and 2741.07 may give us a basis for suit&quot; but I would not go into any more detail about the law in an initial letter. If during the consultation (in person or by phone or zoom or some such), the lawyer does not mention laws you have learned of and think relevant, you could mention them and ask why the lawyer is not addressing them. The lawyer does not need or want to be told what you think the law is, the lawyer needs to know what the situation is and what you hope to do about it. That includes who &quot;we&quot; are. Update As the answer from ohwilleke says, a telephone all might be better than a letter. But in either case, the key things the lawyer will need to know are: 1) who are you?; 2) what is the situation you are concerned with (details may be important here)?; 3) what do you want to accomplish through the lawyer's services?; 4) who are the other parties involved? You will want to learn: Does the lawyer m(olr law firm) handle that sort of case?; Are they willing to take you on as clients?; 3) Hpw much experience has this lawyer had with this sort of case?; 4) What are the likely upfront costs?; and 5) What are the chances of success? Items 4 and 5 may not get answers in a first round of contacts. 2nd update, based on revised letter You still start with a statement of the law you think give you a claim. Please do not do that. In this draft letter you do not say anything about the actual problem you have or what you want done until the sixth and next to last paragraph of the letter. Even then you are not very clear on what you want the lawyer to do. &quot;we find ourselves forced to learn how to sue an ex-customer&quot; sounds as if you are asking for education, not legal services. I would suggest something more like: We are an association of traditional artisans. An Ohio business {insert business name} that had formerly purchased and resold some of our work has been using the images of us and our families to advertise its goods without permission. We want this stopped and also want monetary damages for past use. We think we may have a claim under {ORC sections}. In any case we want this stopped by whatever legal process would be most appropriate. That puts the situation first, your desire second, and any comment about the law later (or it could be left out).
united-states But what is that legal reason? Why would an organization not be able to state their position with respect to the issue, such as &quot;We believe we acted correctly, but this will be decided in court&quot;? Is there a law saying that commenting a court case is illegal? Who does this apply to? Or is this just some guideline or established advice to avoid problems (which ones)? Legal Ethics Considerations There are circumstances when commenting publicly on litigation violates the ethical rules for lawyers related to trial publicity See Rule of Professional Conduct 3.6 (the numbering system for professional conduct rules for lawyers is uniform nationally in the U.S. although the substance of the rules can differ in detail from state to state - Colorado's rule is fairly typical). Mostly this rule calls for avoiding statements that could prejudice a jury unless the other side has already done so and those statements need to be rebutted. This rule states (in its Colorado version): (a) A lawyer who is participating or has participated in the investigation or litigation of a matter shall not make an extrajudicial statement that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated by means of public communication and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter. (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) and Rule 3.8(f), a lawyer may state: (1) the claim, offense or defense involved and, except when prohibited by law, the identity of the persons involved; (2) information contained in a public record; (3) that an investigation of a matter is in progress; (4) the scheduling or result of any step in litigation; (5) a request for assistance in obtaining evidence and information necessary thereto; (6) a warning of danger concerning the behavior of a person involved, when there is reason to believe that there exists the likelihood of substantial harm to an individual or to the public interest; and (7) in a criminal case, in addition to subparagraphs (1) through (6): (i) the identity, residence, occupation and family status of the accused; (ii) if the accused has not been apprehended, information necessary to aid in apprehension of that person;(iii) the fact, time and place of arrest; and (iv) the identity of investigating and arresting officers or agencies and the length of the investigation. (c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) and Rule 3.8(f), a lawyer may make a statement that a reasonable lawyer would believe is required to protect a client from the substantial undue prejudicial effect of recent publicity not initiated by the lawyer or the lawyer's client. A statement made pursuant to this paragraph shall be limited to such information as is necessary to mitigate the recent adverse publicity. (d) No lawyer associated in a firm or government agency with a lawyer subject to paragraph (a) shall make a statement prohibited by paragraph (a). Statements such as &quot;We believe we acted correctly, but this will be decided in court&quot; are allowed and are not terribly uncommon. But, making a comment about something that can be easily inferred from the publicly available documents filed in court provides little or no positive advantage for a litigant. Also, one doesn't have to say much to create at least a colorable Rule of Professional Conduct 3.6 issue that a mediator can raise in settlement talks, or that a judge can be forced to analyze. Even if the claim of unethical trial publicity ultimately doesn't hold water, it still muddies the waters and distracts lawyers and litigants from dealing with the substance of the dispute. The Risk That A Statement Will Be Used Against You Usually, the main concern is similar to the concern about talking to police: Anything you say can and will be used against you at trial. For example, this week former President Trump's public statement about his knowledge of classified documents, which are the subject of an ongoing federal criminal investigation of him, seriously harmed his position legally. (His statement was made quite a while ago in a semi-private forum, but at a time when the possibility of a criminal investigation still should have been on his radar screen.) In the civil rape-defamation case against him (as noted, for example, in this Law.SE answer), Trump's decision to continue to speak publicly about matters that were the subject of active litigation against him in an earlier case resulted in an extended statute of limitations and an opportunity to refile the case without having to worry about Presidential immunity from liability for statements he made while in office. It isn't just former President Trump that does things like this, but his conduct provides good textbook examples of what lawyers worry about when their clients talk about cases that are being litigated. Social media statements about pending cases by litigants routinely provide powerful evidence against them in trials. Some clients (particularly politicians and many senior executives of big and medium sized businesses, but also more ordinary people with big egos) are &quot;forces of nature&quot; who can't resist running their mouths, usually to their detriment, when given the least leave to do so. It is easier to teach them to say &quot;no comment&quot; across the board about pending litigation, than to transmit the depth of understanding necessary to comment without saying something potentially harmful. Lawyers spend many hours and sometimes days preparing their clients for depositions for a reason. Avoiding Annoyance To Opposing Counsel, Parties, And Judges Making a comment about pending litigation has the potential to aggravate opposing counsel and can emotionally influence non-lawyer opposing parties with whom a negotiated settlement will be reached 90%+ of the time (only about 1-2% of civil cases go to trial, but some are resolved by default judgments or on motion practice as opposed to by settlement). It can also irritate a judge who frequently prefers to be out of the public spotlight when necessary, even when the statements made aren't prohibited, and judges in the U.S. have lots of discretionary authority.
user6726's answer about civil action is good, as you appear to have lots of evidence that document-based in terms of bank records, etc. And media shaming would work; but you could be sued in retaliation, even if you're right. But try calling a prosecutor - such as a county attorney - rather than an arm of law enforcement. The police are always overworked and can be reluctant to try and put a case together for the local prosecutor. Contacting a county attorney is free and doesn't require you to get a lawyer, and it can be a surprisingly effective tactic against a criminal. A phone call or a detailed letter to the county attorney for the person's county of residence that explains the criminal activity may be the key to getting some movement in the situation. You have lots of hard evidence to hand the attorney about an individual who is committing fraud, and that evidence may make simply make the case for the attorney, as it is documented evidence they can immediately verify and use, either at the county level, or be passed to the district (state) prosecutor. A loss of $4000 is significant, and may be a felony in that state. But the "$6,000 in products that were not shipped" is intent on the criminals' part and is not a loss to you. If it is a county with a large population, the attorney will have many assistants who may have time to pursue the case. An attorney for a small county may be looking for an easy case. And who knows? The attorney's office may already know the person - if it's a county with a small population, or if that person already has a criminal history (which you could research yourself in that county's records) - and that makes the case even easier for the attorney.
This appears to be a complaint about lawyers using the legal process to achieve what their client wants. Forgive me, but this seems to be like complaining that doctors only want to cure the client's disease, architects only want to design the client's buildings and generals only want to kill the client's enemies. Your lawyer is not your business strategist or your life coach! A civil case is always about the money. If you are pursuing a civil case over a principle then you are going to spend a lot of money and probably lose. The use of a lawyer should always be part of your wider negotiation strategy in the same way that your armed forces are part of your diplomacy; in both cases the threat of use is usually better than the actual use. A civil case always follows a failure to successfully negotiate. Not all by any means, but most, civil cases would be better settled by agreement than litigation by all parties. If you believe that your objectives can best be served by a social media campaign, political pressure, etc. then go for it. Your lawyer can advise you what the risks are wrt to defamation etc. but ultimately how you choose to pursue your goal is up to you. Lawyers, understandably, look for legal solutions. A public relations professional is far better placed than a lawyer to inform your media strategy.
If I read this correctly, (and more context would support this, but I don't have time to do research at the moment; I also don't have the book in question, so I'm only basing off of the provided snippet) then it appears two different (higher court) justices making rules, not only to guide their own judgements before them, but for reference for lower court justices to base their rulings against. Note that these two cases appear to have taken place about 3 decades apart, and in two different countries, albeit with related legal codes. The Purple is "identical" to the Green, because their wording is near enough identical between the two passages. I don't think "dumbness" or lack of distinguishably is implied. Rather McRae's rule is Conditions Green AND (logical "and") Condition Red, while the British rule is just Condition Green. The orange text suggests that, under the rule in Associated Japanese Bank Ltd v Credit du Nord SA, Condition Red need NOT be shown. I.e., you don't need to show that a party is responsible for convincing the other party of an unreasonable falsehood, to prevent the first party from using the doctrine of "common mistake". It also suggests that the rule from McRae does impose Condition Red. Essentially, the text is describing two different (non-exhaustive) tests for determining when the doctrine of "common mistake" can be invoked.
Is it acceptable for person A (representing themselves) to refer to person B as &quot;their neighbor&quot; instead of by their name, or would that cause the suit to be dismissed? Omitting the neighbor's name in the pleadings &amp; proceedings cannot singlehandedly cause the dismissal of a defamation suit. The matter would result in dismissal only if the plaintiff repeatedly disobeys court order(s) (if any) to disclose that information. Before the proceedings get to that point, the plaintiff will have had one or more hearings to dispute the defendant's alleged need for identifying a non-party by name. When opposing to that disclosure, the plaintiff's goal is to establish that the false narrative about robbing a neighbor at gunpoint is defamatory regardless of neighbor's name. Keep in mind that the focus in a claim of defamation is the defamed person, whereas the relevance of details such as who the non-parties are pertains to context and evidence. Lastly, the fact that a party to the suit is a pro se litigant is irrelevant from both substantial and procedural standpoints.
I found a mention of this issue here, where the case Rhonda Eddy v. Ingenesis was cited. Eddy worked from home in West Virginia, but had signed her contract with a company headquartered in Texas. The link is the decision of The State of West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, which upheld the decision of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, namely, that the Circuit Court did not have the authority to hear Eddy's petition against her employer because she was out of the Circuit Court's jurisdiction. The circuit court found that it did not have personal jurisdiction over respondent under West Virginia’s personal jurisdiction statutes, and that respondent did not have sufficient minimum contacts with West Virginia to satisfy federal due process considerations. The circuit court also found that it did not have subject matter jurisdiction over petitioner’s WPCA claim because petitioner’s employment contract contained a valid choice of law clause that mandated Texas law would govern any dispute between the parties. Emphasis mine. It all depends on stipulations made in the employment contract. This (in the United Kingdom) states 4. Place of Work Allows the employer to specify the location where the employee will work. However, it also allows for the employer to specify any other location in the future. This gives the employer much greater flexibility. That would seem to indicate that (at least in the U.K.) the place is specified in the contract.
You can ask a law enforcement officer or district attorney to press charges. Generally, you cannot do so yourself. In practice, this kind of allegation is almost never criminally prosecuted. A prosecution would be particularly unlikely if the witnesses and/or notary confirmed his story that it was your father's signature or was authorized, and if the lawyer received no personal benefit from the will. Sentences for forging a will vary from state to state and sometimes depend upon the amount of personal benefit secured from doing so. Absent a huge personal benefit, it would probably be a minor felony punishable by a few years in prison or more likely, in the case of a lawyer without prior convictions, a deferred judgment, or probation and a fine. Proving that the signature is forged is extremely difficult and under certain circumstances a person trying to execute a will can lawfully have someone do it for them by directing the lawyer to do so in the presence of the witnesses (for example, if your father's hand was shaking too much to make it possible for him to sign his name due to a condition like Parkinson's disease). The witnesses to the will would be in a bad position to testify against him because they could face charges too if they witnessed the will despite knowing that it was not signed or authorized by the testator. You could contest the validity of the will due to an allegedly forged signature by raising a timely objection in a probate proceeding to have the will determined valid. In this proceeding, you would only have to show that it is more likely than not that this happened and the consequence would be that the will would be found invalid. In theory, you could sue the lawyer for damages to you caused by the alleged forgery, but only if you were harmed and realistically, only if the will was found to be invalid, which would eliminate any harm, unless the probate process has already been completed. Finally, you could complain to the attorney regulatory body in the state where the lawyer practices. If they found your allegations to be credible they would investigate. If they found that your allegations were probably true following an investigation and a hearing, they could suspend his license or disbar him.