Legal documentation or drafting must contain the scope of a counselor’s work. It defines the extent to which a legal counseling service can work for a project. Or a case, in this case. It is also referred to as a statement of work (SOW). It contains, like any other SOW, everything from the document requirements of the clients involved to the deliverables that the company guarantees.
For the customer, draft a single paper containing pre-case investigation findings. It is something like a Zeroth list. The word ‘paper’ holds importance in most cases. Spoken words don’t count as much as written words do. Therefore, it is better to write everything agreed upon by both parties on a piece of paper.
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5 Steps to Draft a Better Legal Document
Legal documents can, in some cases, represent matters of life and death. They can easily cause or address conflict. To say that they need to be accurate is to say the very least. The following are some steps to better such a template rather than an exhaustive set to a perfect draft:
1. Case File
Begin with reviewing the case file. It is nothing but putting together an inventory of all written reports. They are:
- Incident reports
- Client statements
- Witness list
- Police reports
2. Client Damage Report
From among very few legal document preparation services, you would get a proper SOW template. The next step, according to the template, is to analyze. Make a list of all injuries according to the Incident Reports, Client Statements, Witness List, or, the Police or Medical Reports. It can be referred to as a treatment summary.
These will also help in budgeting according to both client and company. Get it reviewed by your client. The treatment summary should be finished with an itemized list of:
- Providers
- Titles
- Dates of treatment
- Therapy kinds
- Relevant reports like special ratings, suggestions for further treatment, and/or independent medical evaluations.
3. Violations as Per Law
In the third part of the proposal, you will include all the statutory violations. Every violation is caused by an accident according to the case law. Provide a single finished document for the client. Never forget to present a paper for verification by the client at every step.
Cost Incurred or Budget
Next, make an itemized list of all costs related to the accident, broken down into categories. This itemized list will be included in a single document. The pricing must be as recommended by a legal process outsourcing service as a separate deliverable in your scope of work template. You can brief about a subcontractor too in the same but do not forget to get this paper signed by the client.
- Medical charges
- Mileage costs
- Time from work (because of the incident)
5. Agreement
To complete the service, you will create a statement of demand. It highlights the main points of importance and the reasons for the demanded amount. Add any pertinent attachments and a time frame for a response. Create the final document and give it to the customer for evaluation. This step is basically, an agreement between two parties over deliverables. You are bound to deliver under your scope of work. And the client is bound to pay you accordingly. There is nothing outside this paper.
Conclusion
It is evident what you should not miss before or while drafting a legal document. Some common, colloquial terms might be missing out. However, they are all included in one way or another. It is important to understand the sequence as well as the inclusion of all of them at once.
The first step is about how to end the project. That is the objective. The last one is about, how to begin the process in real time. In short, those were the five mandatory inclusions in your legal draft.