Can I Sign Massachusetts Cease and Desist Letter

Sign Cease and Desist Letter

what is a cease-and-desist letter when should use it when shouldn't use it who should send it when should you send it what are some common mistakes people make I'll address these issues coming up I'm Aaron Hall business attorney in Minneapolis a cease and desist letter is quite simply correspondence telling somebody stop their illegal activity what kind of illegal activity are we talking about maybe it's trademark infringement copyright infringement harassing phone calls or letters maybe it's some other violation of the law maybe violation of trade secret law improperly using confidential business information maybe they're slandering or defaming you these are typical examples where you want to send a cease and desist letter what is the letter do well couple things first a cease and desist letter puts people on notice that you know they're engaging in illegal activity they no longer can say oh I didn't realize it or I was never told to stop there are now on notice of their illegal activity second it may show bad faith as opposed to good faith in other words if you've told them they need to stop they can't say all I didn't know in fact because they persist it at least as one factor a court could look at in determining whether they had bad faith in continuing their illegal activity after they had noticed finally it makes somebody aware that they may be sued and may face legal consequences it's one step closer to litigation without actually filing in court and spending all the money and going to all the effort of commencing a lawsuit that's the value of it now who should send a cease-and-desist letter it really should come from an attorney it doesn't have the same weight if it comes from an individual when it comes on law firm letterhead from an attorney articulating that the conduct is illegal that sends a much stronger message than an individual what should be in the cease and desist letter well for one it should articulate specifically what has been done wrong what is they'll illegal a conduct that should be stopped what type of defamation is there what type of slander what kind of trademark infringement occurred not just stating the legal doctrine but also giving some examples of what's occurred the cease and desist letter might also say in addition to stopping here's a settlement offer for example turn over the confidential information you've been improperly using and pay a settlement amount a dollar amount of some sort and then we won't sue you and perhaps a-- will say you have ten days to respond the number of days really depends on the situation when should this be sent really as soon as possible and typically parties will do that when the situation has gotten so severe that they're willing to take some legal action to get this to stop