Letter · Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Letter of demand with genuine-steps and limitation notes
A firm, measured pre-action letter of demand that states the claim, sets a deadline, proposes genuine steps to resolve the dispute and records them so they can be repeated in a genuine steps statement.
- Kind
- Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
- Where it applies
- Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, United Kingdom (England and Wales)
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked against the cited sources on 17 October 2026.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use before starting a commercial claim in any Australian court, and especially before filing in the Federal Court or the Federal Circuit and Family Court (Division 2), where a genuine steps statement is required. Do not use where notice would defeat urgent relief (for example a freezing order) or for a simple liquidated debt, where the debt-recovery demand is a better fit.
How AI may be used
AI may produce a first draft from a lawyer-approved issues table and chronology, but every figure, date, legal basis and statement of consequence must be checked against the source documents and the conduct rules before the letter is signed.
AI may
- Draft a first version from the issues table, chronology and contract extracts the lawyer supplies
- List every amount, date and clause reference in the draft beside the document it came from
- Flag wording that may go beyond the legitimate assertion of the client's rights, for the lawyer to decide
- Tidy the plain English of paragraphs the lawyer has already settled
AI must not
- Must not decide whether the claim is in time or when the limitation period started
- Must not insert interest, costs or damages figures the lawyer has not supplied and checked
- Must not add threats of criminal or disciplinary complaints, or consequences the client has not instructed
- Must not be given the client's documents in a tool whose terms allow the provider to train on them
The lawyer checks
- Each amount reconciles to the contract, invoices and ledger
- The limitation period and its start date are confirmed and diarised
- The letter complies with ASCR r 34.1 and does not mislead or intimidate
- The steps described are true and can be repeated in a genuine steps statement
- Any without prejudice offer is in a separate letter and the open letter stands on its own
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution
- Statement of claim: NSW UCPR Form 3A and Federal Court Form 17 (completion guide)
- Interlocutory application pack: orders sought, short minutes and outline of submissions (NSW notice of motion and Federal Court Form 35)
- Deed of settlement and release (commercial dispute, with consent orders)
- Gen AI verification checklist and disclosure wording for court documents (Federal Court, NSW, Victoria, Queensland)
- Client notice and consent: e-discovery, technology-assisted review and AI document review
All precedents for Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution · Tasks and AI use in this area