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Author - Divyam Agarwal

Any legal action can only be taken once notice has been given to the agency or person you wish to bring to court. Only this procedure legalizes the bringing of a case before the judge. The intimation sent is known as a legislative note. Accordingly, a legal notice is a formal communication to a person or entity informing them of the intention of taking legal action against them.

A notification, when sent, expresses your intent before the legal proceedings and, thus, informs the party of the grievance. Most times a served legal notice will get the other party on their toes, and the issue can also be settled out of court, with fruitful discussions on both sides. Then, if the other party still does not pay heed to the petition, one can always continue the court proceedings after a specific time, as the law states.

While a legal notice may act as a negotiating point between the parties and helps in saving time, energy, and money that is usually spent in court cases.

Importance of filing a Legal Notice

Many circumstances can occur in which one becomes uncertain about how to take legal action to resolve the matter. The filing of a legal notice gives the court process a fresh start to litigation. It, therefore, has different aspects to it which are crucial:

• By submitting a legal notice, it may give the sender a clear intention to file a lawsuit to resolve the issue to which the other party may reply immediately to save itself from court proceedings.
• A person with the aid of an Advocate can easily describe his case in a legal notice.
• Sending a legal notice offers the subject of the legal notice, that is, the opposing party, an opportunity to resolve the matter cordially
• A notice serves as a reminder to the receiver, concerning actions which have intentionally or unintentionally created a problem for the sender.

Essential Information

A legal notice is given pursuant to Section 80 of the 1908 Code of Civil Procedure, and is filed only in civil cases. The intimation is a legal notice and thus carries the following information:

1. Precise statement and information about the claim for which action is to be taken.
2. Relief/alternatives available or being sought by the grieving party
3. How to solve the relief/problem in hand, a list of facts and the way it can be solved?

It is crucial to explicitly outline a full rundown of the problems facing the grieved party, along with what can be done to resolve the matter. The final Legal Notice history should include a detailed account of how relief can be obtained/problem solved if the issue is mutually agreed upon.

A perfectly crafted legal notice will serve as a mediator between the two parties to help resolve the issue out of court if both are willing to compromise on the matter.

The following points must be present in the format of a legal notice:

• Name and relevant details 
• Description
• Place of residence of the sender of the notice
• Aspects of impact 
• Financial relief requested by the sender of the notice 
• The substance of the legal basis of the claimed relief.

Filing a Legal Notice

A legal notice, though a simple document, requires consistency and precision, and the use of a specific language to ensure that the message sent is accurate. A legal professional or an agent may assist in providing the legal notice as appropriate by law and in wording it as required for the specific issue.

Procedure:

• One may write the note on your own, or use a lawyer's services.
• The notice should be addressed to the person one has the complaint against.
• Mention the reason that compelled to give the notice.
• Mention of prior correspondence concerning the origin of the notice.
• Offer the addressee a reasonable time say 30 days or 60 days for agreeing to or doing the necessary action to settle the matter.
• Give time in notice either to meet your request or to respond 
• Send it by registered post.
• Keep a copy of the post office receipt as well as of notice.
• One can submit the legal notice directly without a lawyer. Still, it is recommended to meticulously draft the notice in such a way that it is not lengthy and includes all the material contents relevant to the case.
• The DRAFTING OF THE NOTICE is another critical thing– Most times, we don't know the legal significance and context of the standard terms that we casually use. So while writing down the legal notice, one should be extremely careful about every word being used and be careful not to acknowledge any truth that later had to be refuted in a court of law. As soon as the legal notice is delivered one can't make any changes to it and then any contradictory statements can't be made about what has already been written in the legal notice.

Although the other party may or may not respond to the legal notice, a person to whom the legal notice is addressed must send a response within the specified period. If not replied, one may be at the disadvantage of not complying with the law, thereby giving the other party an unfair advantage when appearing in court.

Legal notice can be submitted directly too. One may write, and approve, a legal notice before sending it to the other party. Nevertheless, because the wording in a legal notice is crucial if the case reaches the court, and it is key to quoting the statute under which one has made the argument, getting a specialist in law to make the copies of the legal notice works for one's gain.

Conclusion

A legal notice is a formal legal document prepared for its client by an advocate. Although it is not necessary to give legal notice before the litigation is filed in all cases, it is still considered as an essential document in any legal proceedings. Since in most cases, the actual conflicts or problems are settled without even going to the court with a simple serving of the notice. The success of a legal notice often relies on an advocate's writing abilities, how he draws up the issues involved for the recipient in a presentable manner.