This book was written for use by attorneys who represent small businesses. It is a natural companion to the author’s practice guide Advising the Small Business: Forms and Advice for the Legal Practitioner, American Bar Association, 2007 (second edition due out in 2011), as templates for many of the documents referenced in the sample letters in this volume can be found in the forms and advice manual.
In my desire for speedy correspondence and my goal of reducing the amount of paper I use and store in my office, I rarely send correspondence on paper. There are still some correspondences worth sending in tangible form, as discussed in Chapter 1, but for the rest, the sample letters that constitute this book are largely examples of correspondence that I would typically send by e-mail.
When using this book, send your correspondence electronically or on paper as you may prefer; simply copy and paste the text into your own letterhead or into an e-mail, and revise it to best suit your own facts and circumstances and the law in your jurisdiction.
However, if you do send your correspondence electronically, please make sure your computer backups include your e-mails and that the backup files are accessible. Also, there are a few sample footers in Chapter 2 for e-mail correspondence. All electronic correspondences with clients should, at a minimum, include a notice regarding confidentiality and reservation of the attorney-client privilege.
One great advantage of corresponding electronically with proper back ups is that you can keep copies of your files on a portable drive and take it with you whenever you are out of the office. This will allow you to plug into any computer anywhere and access all of the files in your office and to avoid any glitches in the event something happens to the office or the computer system, or your access to the office is hindered in some way.
Finally, as always when an attorney is using forms and templates, remember that the form is there to suggest content, not dictate it. Please use the sample letters in this book in that light and be sure to:
I hope you enjoy this book and find it useful in your practice.