Litigation and disputes · Litigation fee-earner, disputes partner
Letter before claim, build the response plan
A letter of claim under the Pre-Action Protocol for Construction and Engineering Disputes is stress-tested as if acting for the other side, then built into the plan the team runs the pre-action meeting from.
- Agents
- First draft
- Two grounded research answers in under a minute each, then a Work-Stream Memo response plan the same day.
- Steps
- 6
The problem
Step 01 of 06
Add key dates to the matter
The letter of response due date and the pre-action meeting deadline go on the facts strip; the letter and the engineer's reports are added.
Step 02 of 06
Stress-test the letter
Asked to assume the other side and identify weaknesses, the answer finds the quantum breakdown gap, a liquidated-damages arithmetic point, and a missing non-completion certificate.
Step 03 of 06
Check the notice point
A second question on the employer's notice obligations before deducting liquidated damages returns the relevant machinery, citing the standard form's own wording where no reported authority applies.
Step 04 of 06
Build the response plan
The Litigation & Disputes Agent runs on Thorough with Prepare for: Work-Stream Memo, producing the anticipated letter of response, a chronology, an evidence schedule and a meeting agenda.
Step 05 of 06
Work the next actions
Nine items with owners and dates, including obtaining the non-completion certificate and instructing a delay expert.
Step 06 of 06
Sign off
The partner reads it, ticks the items, clicks Verify all on the seven authorities, and signs off.
What comes back
A document, not a transcript.
- A weaknesses analysis of the firm's own letter of claim, each point tied to a paragraph in the document.
- An anticipated Letter of Response with the firm's answer set beside each point.
- A chronology, an evidence schedule and a meeting agenda for the pre-action meeting.
- A next-actions list with owners and dates, and open questions the partner alone can answer.
What it does not do
- It does not obtain the non-completion certificate or the expert's underlying report; it names what is needed and who should get it.
- It does not instruct the delay expert; that is flagged as a partner decision.
- Where a point turns on the standard form's wording rather than reported authority, it says so rather than presenting a contractual construction as settled law.