Spelling

Lawyers are trained to pay attention to detail. Therefore, spelling mistakes in a letter are likely to be noticed and will create a very bad impression. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar should all be checked carefully. Many people rely on the spell-checker in their computer to ensure there are no spelling mistakes. However, spell-checkers often prescribe American spellings, while clients and other correspondents may prefer British spellings. In any case, certain kinds of mistakes will slip through such a check, e.g.:

— Where a word may be spelt correctly but is
the wrong word: I saw it their (instead of

I saw it there).

— Where a compound word is incorrectly split
into two words, or two words are incorrectly
combined to form a valid compound word:
the good will of the company (instead of the
goodwill of the company).

There is no substitute for carefully proofreading each letter that you have written.

Titles, names, and addresses

Use the correct title in the address and salutation. Spell your correspondent's name correctly (nothing creates a worse impression than a misspelt name) and write their address accurately.

If you do not know your correspondent, do not assume that they are one sex or the other, i.e. use Dear Sir I Madam rather than Dear Sir or Dear Madam. If you know a correspondent's name but not their sex, use Mr I Ms, e.g. Dear Mr /Ms Bromley.

Better still, before you write, telephone the organization at which that person works and find out from the receptionist the sex of the intended recipient.

References

When replying to a letter, fax, or email, quote all references accurately so that it is immediately clear to your reader what you are writing about.

Prices, measurements, etc

Special care should be taken when quoting prices or giving specifications such as measurements or weights. Quoting these incorrectly can cause serious misunderstandings.

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 709