This assignment provides you an opportunity to do work a paralegal may do when working in a legal environment that works with negligence claims, whether a plaintiff's firm, defense firm, insurance company, or other similar environment.

For this assignment, you work in the law firm that represents the plaintiff. The supervising attorney has asked you to draft a well-written settlement demand to serve on counsel for the defendant. The client would like to settle without going to trial. You will draft a settlement demand letter using a sample template that will be provided to you and incorporating the client information from the prior writing projects and assigned learning materials in this course.

The term "demand" is generally used before a lawsuit is filed. Many lawyers use the term "demand" after a lawsuit is filed. Some lawyers use terms "Proposed Offer in Settlement" "Offer in Compromise" "Offer in Settlement" or other title. Always check with the law firm to know how to properly title and format a settlement demand.

Carefully review and follow the instructions for this assignment.

Instructions

• First, make sure you have read Chapters 8 & 9 so you understand the defenses to negligence claims.
• An instructional template for the Settlement Demand letter is provided.
• Review the template and template instructions before starting.
• Remove all of the instructions and bracketed information to prepare your letter.
• Carefully review and follow all instructions for this assignment.

Additional Facts for this Assignment

For this assignment, the following apply:

• The Complaint was filed [use the assignment due date].
• The defendant filed an Answer to the Complaint [use date five days after the assignment due date] and asserted [identify affirmative defenses].
• You are writing from the perspective of the Plaintiff for this assignment. The Plaintiff wants to make an "Offer in Settlement" to resolve the negligence claim to avoid further litigation.
• The Offer in Settlement will follow all instructions for this assignment.
• In the section "Nature of the Claim" you will discuss the Defendant's affirmative defenses
  • Address each affirmative defense separately.
  • Use the information from the assigned learning materials to explain why each defense does not apply.
  • You are not required to research case law in your discussion of the affirmative defenses.

General Formatting Requirements

• Remove the instructional notes from the settlement demand template.
  • Recommended: Make a copy of the template, remove the instructions, and use the template as your working draft.
  • Refer to the template instructions as you work on the writing project.
• The template is preformatted for margins and spacing:
  • • Font type: Times New Roman
    • Font size: 12
    • Margins: 1" margins all sides
• Line spacing: Single; set the line spacing before and after to "0"
  • Body content headings are preset to insert 3pt spacing between the heading and text.
  • Do not insert a space after the body content headings.
• Page numbering
  • • Follow the heading instructions in the Settlement Demand template.

Additional Instructions

• Date of the letter: Assignment due date
• Recipient: Opposing counsel for the defendant. This information is in the signature block of the Answer and Affirmative Defenses pleading you prepared.
• Summary of the Incident: Facts from the case scenario.
• Nature of the Claim
  • There is only one legal claim for this assignment: Negligence.
  • Discuss the affirmative defenses as described above.
• Injuries
  • Create any additional facts about the injuries the plaintiff has suffered.
  • The facts should consider past, present, and future injury.
• Damages
  • The client has special damages and general damages.
  • List three types of special damages available to the client and provide a total for each type.
  • List three types of general damages available to the client and provide a total for each type.
  • The damages should align with the injuries described in the case scenario.
• Documentation
  • Identify six types of documents you are enclosing to support the injuries and damages claim.
  • Refer to the settlement demand template for assistance with document descriptions.
  • List the Complaint that was filed on [assignment due date], but which has not been served on the defendant.
• Settlement
  • • The total sum of the special and general damages referenced.
    • Reasons to support the settlement amount.
• Final paragraph
  • • Provide a reasonable time for the defendant to respond
      • Generally, this is 10-30 days.
      • When a complaint has been filed but it has not been served, do not forget the jurisdictional requirements for time to serve a defendant after filing a lawsuit. In Nebraska, it is six months. If service is not made on the defendant, the claim is dismissed by operation of law for failure to timely serve the defendant. If the statute of limitations has run, the client may have a legal malpractice claim against the lawyer. Lawyers must know all statutory limits and the lawyer is responsible for meeting all deadlines. Paralegals do an excellent job keeping track of deadlines to remind lawyers.
    • Give a statement asking opposing counsel if the defendant will enter a voluntary appearance. If not, where does the defendant prefer to be served.

Template:

LETTER HEAD] 1 line between end of letterhead and letter FOR SETTLEMENT PURPOSES ONLY Warns that letter cannot be used as evidence 1 line June 1, 2023 [do not use superscript or ordinal numbers, e.g. April 1st] 1 line Sent by U.S. First Class Mail, and Describe delivery method(s) Fax to (402) 555-1212 1 line John Smith Name of recipient Associate Attorney Title of recipient Smith and Smith, PC LLO Correct spelling of firm or company name 1234 S Main, Ste. 100 No period after directional; abbreviate Suite Omaha, NE 68000 Abbreviate state name 1 line RE: Title of Document Example, Demand for Settlement Smith v. Jones, CI 21 1234 District Court of Main County, Nebraska 1 line Dear [Full name or Mr., Ms. Name]: Use colon for legal correspondence 1 line This is the introduction paragraph. State the purpose of the letter only. 1 line Summary of the Incident Describe the incident from beginning to end. Note use of the word incident. Avoid using the word accident in communications about personal injury. Use spell check when you complete the letter to ensure you did not use accident. Provide the day, time, location, and parties involved. Do not discuss the law, the other parties negligence, etc. Facts onlyjust facts. Do not discuss liability or legal theories. 1 line Nature of the Claim This section discusses the legal claim(s) and why the defendant is directly responsible for the clients injuries. Do not speak negatively about the responsible party. Just like you did with the memo, discuss the essential elements of negligence and use facts from the summary to show the negligent act or omission that caused the clients injuries. Do not include statements the client made that could be construed as the clients admission of fault or partial fault. 1 line Injuries Describe the clients injuries to person and property, including impairments and disability. Include specific details how the injuries have changed the plaintiffs life (include spouse and children). Relate how the effects of medical care and the injuries prohibit the plaintiff from performing normal daily functions, how the plaintiff must rely on others, etc. Describe the effect of injuries on personal relationships with a spouse, significant other, children, family and friends. 1 line

Letter to John Smith, Title Heading for top of each page RE: Title of Document E.g., Demand for Settlement June 1, 2023 Same date as page 1 Page 2 of 3 Page # of total # of pages 3 lines Damages Introduction to the damages the client is asserting, followed by headings for those damages. 1 line A. Special Damages Discuss the special damages, which are those damages that can be proven with tangible evidence (e.g., medical treatment, lost wages, medical devices, over-the-counter medications, etc.). Start this section by describing the types of damages suffered. Then, list each category of damage and the total amount. You do not itemize each cost in this letter. The attorney may have you prepare a spreadsheet listing each individual cost to send with the supporting documents. For example: 1 line 1. Medical Services, June 1, 2020 - April 1, 2023 $75,000 2. Lost Wages, June 1, 2020 present $125,000 1 line B. General Damages 1 line Discuss the general damages, which are intangible losses, things that cannot be objectively measured (e.g., pain and suffering, emotional distress, consortium loss. When describing general damages, you want to summarize the descriptive terms you used in the prior discussion of the clients injuries. It is important to show the impact of the tort on the plaintiffs life. Then, as you did for the special damages, list them. Here, you generally do not include date ranges. 1 line 1. Pain and suffering $250,000 2. Emotional distress $250,000 1 line Documentation In actual practice, you will assist the attorney in preparing documents to send with the demand letter. You will not do that for this assignment, but you will describe in this section documents enclosed with the settlement proposal to support the claim. For example, medical records, medical bills, accident reports, photographs of injuries, receipts for out-of-pocket expenses, wage statements, photographs, videos, etc. List documents numerically, identify the format produced, and the number of pages. For example: 1 line 1. Incident Report, April 1, 2019, Omaha Police Department, Report #12345 (8pp) 2. CHI Medical Records, April 1, 2019 - present (155pp) 3. CHI Medical Bills, April 1, 2019 - present (45pp) 4. Photographs of injuries, multiple dates (25 color photos) 1 line Also identify how the documents are being produced. Today, most document copies are produced on a CD or USB flash drive. Copies of radiology scans and x-rays are produced in the same form provided by the health care provider.

Letter to John Smith RE: Title of Document June 1. 2023 Page 3 of 3 3 lines Settlement Provide the total amount proposed to settle the claim now and provide justification for settling without filing a lawsuit or proceeding to trial. This is the total of the special and general damages added together. Add a statement that this is the amount that compensates the plaintiff fully and which is appropriate for the injuries and damages. In practice, the attorney will determine this amount. 1 line This is the closing paragraph. Thank the addressee for review and consideration of the demand. Give the time frame to respond to the demand and to whom the response should be directed. End the letter by stating the client will pursue legal remedies available to the client if the settlement demand is not met. 1 line Sincerely, use a comma after salutation endings 3 lines Attorney Printed Name 3 lines Enclosures: 3 # of enclosures. Number only if enclosure identified in the letter