There is no need to repeat yourself, I ignored you just fine the first time.

At the risk of repeating myself, there is often little point in repeating myself. 

For example, if you instruct me to send a letter before action, telling the other side that if they don’t pay/respond/agree etc by xxxx date, you will do yyyy, if they don’t do what you asked, there is little point in my writing to them again. 

In fact, you can completely undermine your point by chasing for an answer, if you’ve stated unequivocally in your original letter what you’ll do if they don’t comply. 

It always reminds me of the Robin Williams routine about UK Police, shouting “stop or I’ll shout stop again". If the people they were chasing didn’t stop the first time, they’re not going to do it just because they say it a second time. 

Either have the courage of your convictions and do whatever it is you threatened to do or make your threat less definitive. Instead of saying “I’ll issue proceedings” you could say “I’ll take legal advice on whether legal action is necessary”. That leaves the door open for further communication, without that communication demonstrating that you’re not actually going to sue. 

Of course, this can work the other way around. Simply because the other side tells you that you must respond by Friday at 4pm or they’ll issue proceedings, doesn’t actually mean that they will. You can choose to respond by that time (if you want to), or you can send a holding email (we will reply but we can’t get a substantive response to you by then) or you can ignore it and see what they do next. Unless the deadline is set by a court, it’s completely arbitrary and doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll do what they threaten.  

Even if they do genuinely intend to issue proceedings, the chances of them being ready to do it at 4.01 on a Friday afternoon are remote. They’ll almost certainly have to take instructions, get the funds for the court fees, draft the papers, get them to court etc. The more complicated the dispute, the longer it is likely to take them to be ready, especially if they have to instruct Counsel to draft the pleadings. What are the chances that they’ve spent all of that time and money in advance, just in case you don’t respond – unlikely, although never impossible. So in reality you’ve probably got a bit more time if you want it, and a chance to demonstrate that whilst you’re willing to communicate (if that’s what you want to achieve), you’re not necessarily going to dance to their tune unless it suits your purpose to do so. 

Or, to put it another way, say what you mean and mean what you say. Don’t impose unreasonable time frames on others and don’t tolerate unreasonable time frames being foisted upon you. 

Kleyman & Co Solicitors. The full-service law firm. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again!