Sue... this!

April 10, 2006 6:19 PM

Is an email "Cease and Desist" letter a legal notification? I have been under the impression that a piece of paper, duly sworn, sweared and served was required. New York, civil matter. Yes, I know your not my lawyer.
posted by cedar to law & government (14 comments total)

Hincandenza: I'm reading the question and it dosn't say "What irritates you about about ask me legal questions" It says "Is being served via email a legally valid method of being served."

cedar: look up New York's rules of court procedures. They'll have a definition of what constitutes valid legal service. I know in Iowa a regular postal letter is valid, but email is not.

That said, a C&D is not actually part of the legal process, so honestly it doesn't matter if it's valid service or not. They can sue you without ever sending a C&D. A C&D is just a courtesy and an opportunity to stop whatever your doing without them going through the hassle and expense of hiring an attorney, suing you, and getting a court order to stop.
posted by delmoi at 6:52 PM on April 10, 2006

I've have read numerous things lately on the growth of cease and desist stuff -- often unjustified. I am guessing this is because of something on a website.

The Chilling Effects Clearinghouse will give you a good start on the topic. If I find the other references that I though I bookmarked, I'll post them too.
posted by bim at 6:52 PM on April 10, 2006

Here's another great site from some folks at the NYU law school.
posted by bim at 6:55 PM on April 10, 2006

my friend was sent a C&D via email, and they ended up sending him a regular letter anyway.
posted by delmoi at 6:56 PM on April 10, 2006

Well said, delmoi.

Folks should be sure and read this "priceless" letter by the late Groucho Marx in response to a cease and desist situation. :>
posted by bim at 7:08 PM on April 10, 2006

IAAL. And I see this as a general question, not as one from someone who just received a notice and wants free advice on what to do.

Filing a lawsuit requires that a formal complaint be filed with the court having jurisdiction, and the issuance of a summons from that court requiring a formal written answer be filed within approximately a month, else the requested relief will be granted by default.

A "cease and desist" letter is essentially an informal notice that tells the recipient that the sender will or may avail himself of the formal procedures described above if the offending behavior does not cease. It is very often an intimidation technique - the letter comes from a large and well-heeled law firm, and the clear message is "I've got power on my side, and I can buy that power with money, and you don't want to fuck with me."

Very often it works, usually because the recipient is not particularly well-heeled.
posted by megatherium at 7:58 PM on April 10, 2006

And I guess I forgot the most important point - since a C&D notice is informal, it can take any form. A letter is customary because it can be marked as an exhibit in a later lawsuit, and if needed can be enlarged to a 36x48-inch display.
posted by megatherium at 8:05 PM on April 10, 2006

The mere fact that you asked such a question is clear evidence of your need for competent legal representation in this matter. Get a lawyer and good luck to you.
posted by caddis at 9:43 PM on April 10, 2006

I got a C&D letter from a legal firm via email once. One of my users was hosting something he shouldn't have. I had the user remove the offending stuff ASAP and wrote the lawyers back informing them of the outcome. They simply replied with "Ok, thank you!" and that was the last I ever heard of it.
posted by drstein at 10:28 PM on April 10, 2006

The best response to a C & D letter was Private Eye's.
posted by TheRaven at 4:55 AM on April 11, 2006

I want you to Cease and Desist posting threads asking for legal opinions from people who are not Lawyers!

Now do you think any court is going to take that seriously? If an email would suffice and BB postings would suffice, the world would be an extremely fucked up place. Legal forms require a certain type of format which is why you see all sorts of archaic wording in many legal documents such as "Herewith", "Henceforth", etc
posted by JJ86 at 6:35 AM on April 11, 2006

Support your local trial lawyers association. They need the money!
posted by bim at 6:52 AM on April 11, 2006

Now do you think any court is going to take that seriously? If an email would suffice and BB postings would suffice, the world would be an extremely fucked up place. Legal forms require a certain type of format which is why you see all sorts of archaic wording in many legal documents such as "Herewith", "Henceforth", etc

Suffice for what, or is your post just a big joke waiting to be deleted?
posted by caddis at 7:46 AM on April 11, 2006

Now do you think any court is going to take that seriously? If an email would suffice and BB postings would suffice, the world would be an extremely fucked up place. Legal forms require a certain type of format which is why you see all sorts of archaic wording in many legal documents such as "Herewith", "Henceforth", etc

It doesn't matter if the courts take them seriously or not, that's the whole point. C&Ds are just for politeness/saving money. They carry no weight in court.
posted by delmoi at 6:43 PM on April 11, 2006