Correspondence (Letters and Memos)

Owned by Sam Tipton
Last updated: Jul 12, 2019
5 min read

Letters

What Qualifies as a Letter?

Even if the body of a document is clearly correspondence of some sort, it must meet one or more of the following criteria before letter formatting is used. 

If none of the above-listed criteria apply, treat the job as a standalone document and do not add undictated correspondence elements.  

These rules apply only when the document is clearly correspondence of some type.  Instructions to staff, case notes, pleadings, police reports, etc. would not fall under these guidelines.


Required Elements of Correspondence

Assuming the criteria listed above is met and letter formatting is required, your document must contain the following elements whether they are dictated or not: 

  • Date: If none is dictated, use the current date.
  • Re: Line: If none is dictated, simply leave it blank.
  • Salutation: If none is dictated, use Dear :

Do not extract information from other parts of the dictation to fill in portions that are not dictated.  

All other elements are optional and only typed if dictated.


Formatting of Letter Elements

All of the following formatting instructions are SpeakWrite's default correspondence formatting procedures.  Client instructions and templates override these defaults and should be followed when provided.  Absent any client instructions, use the defaults found below.

Note that clients will frequently dictate the beginning of the letter out of order, but this by itself should not be considered an instruction to change normal format.  


Example Letter Formatted per SpeakWrite Defaults:

 The following letter is an example of how a letter should be formatted when no other instructions are provided by the client.  Pay close attention to the spacing and layout of this example.  Each individual letter element is explained in detail in the example.



SpeakWrite's generic standard letter template is set up with these default settings.  It may be helpful to use a generic template at first to get used to the proper default formatting of letter elements.




Re Line

 Any file identification information should be typed into the Re line of a letter unless the client asks that it be placed somewhere else (in the custom file name box, for example).  Clients have varied ways of dictating Re line information.  The following are a few examples: 

  • "This is on the John Doe file."
  • "This is regarding the John Doe matter."
  • "On John Doe, do a letter…"
  • "Regarding John Doe…"

 The following shows the proper formatting of a Re line in a document using standard indentation.  Tab once to the 0.5-inch position, type Re:, hit tab after the colon and begin typing.  Subsequent lines should be tabbed to line up under the first line.  Do not use hanging indents in the Re section.

For block-style documents, the word Re should appear at the left margin instead of being tabbed in, and everything else is lined up as shown above.  

Signature Block

The signature block should typically be at the same position as the date.  Use the following examples to show you how to format signature blocks in different circumstances.

Example 1

The client dictates a closing and his name only, or his name and title.

Example 2

The client dictates a closing with his company name and then his own name, but does not say "By".  If he also asked for a signature line, add a blank line above the name.

Example 3

The client dictates a closing, the company name, and says it is "By" his own name. 



Emails

When a client states that they are dictating an email (unless they specify that it should only be the body of the email), letter formatting is required.  The Mailing Instruction is where to note that the letter is going to be an email.  Type VIA EMAIL as the mailing instruction.  If an email address is included, type it wherever it is dictated.  If the client requests only the body of an email, do not add letter formatting.

Separating Multiple Letters

When multiple letters/memos/emails are dictated within one job, separate each item onto a new page using a Section Break (Next Page).

If all documents in the job relate to the same file but the client only dictates Re information once, use the same Re for all documents in the job.




Memos


When to Use Memorandum Formatting

Clients will frequently request that you prepare a “memo” or “memorandum”.  Sometimes it's not clear whether or not a client is asking for memo formatting.  Use memorandum formatting in the following situations:

  • The client says “This is a memo”; or
  • The written instructions tell you when to set up a memo; or
  • The client requests a memorandum template; or
  • The client dictates all or most of the memo elements (TO:, FROM:, RE:, DATE)


Memorandum Formatting

Type all elements in the heading, even if they are not all dictated (To, From, Date, Re).  Always include the date.  If no date is given, use the current date.  

  • Do not indent paragraphs.  Memos should be typed block style with a centered title.
  • Leave three hard returns between the title ("Memorandum") and the TO: line.  
  • Leave a blank line between each heading element. 
  • Leave two hard returns between the Re: line and the body of the memo.

Turn your Show/Hide on to ensure that you have the correct spacing between memorandum elements, as shown below.




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