What is a Legal Quotation?
A legal quotation is a precise transcription of what a person or entity has said, either out loud or in written form. It is commonly used in the law industry to maintain the integrity of a message and to avoid misinterpretation. This is what a legal quotation entails.
A legal quotation is used to eliminate ambiguity in any message being conveyed. Contracts and legal documents include a legal quotation after a direct quote from either a client or a third party. A legal quotation is pretty straightforward and does not need additional information about the context or subject matter of the message.
Example of a Legal Quotation:
"Can you send someone out to the property today?"
The legal quotation above is a copy of what the Client asked. The recipient will merely replace the "[legal quotation]" with "Sarah" as this document is for Sarah. It is a way to preserve a message and to avoid miscommunication.
Generally , a legal quotation is presented with a "reference line." Here is an example of a legal quotation with a reference line:
From: [legal quotation]
Sarah: Okay.
The reference line is contained within the legal quotation. The purpose of the reference line is to indicate who made the message. The recipient, Sarah, will know that it is a communication that she must return shortly.
Essentials of Legal Quotation
The key elements to a legal quotation will vary depending on the provisions of the relevant professional conduct rules, however, generally, the key elements of a legal quotation are the parties, the described services and the legal fee(s).
Parties
There will be a potential client, you and/or your firm and there may be other parties such as the external provider of the service being offered and which if the services are being jointly provided will be expressly and prominently identified.
The identity of the parties is important as it will frequently determine your responsibilities and liabiltiies – for example, where the services are not performed by your firm but the external provider to whom you’ve outsourced them. It is also important for your potential customer to know who they are dealing with – whether you as a lawyer will be ever involved in performing the services or whether you will just pass on the work to others.
Described Services
The scope of the described services needs to be clearly and concisely stated addressing any limitations or exclusions. If the described services include the services of a third-party provider, for example a virtual assistant or paralegal, there should be sufficient detail so as to clear any concerns about who will handle the matter and other related details. For example, ‘unless otherwise stated, the services stated above will the responsibility of a suitably qualified paralegal’.
Pricing
The fees may be fixed, a range, hourly, for a given period, and so on. Clarity here is very important both when it comes to the expectations of your customers and as a risk-management strategy, so especially where the scope of services is limited, where part of the quoted fee will necessarily be incurred by a third party, or where the costs of the disbursements for which you wish to charge are not yet known.
Why Legal Quotation is Important
Legal quotations are imperative for the shared clear understanding of exchanging parties. Long-standing legal traditions and modern controls are expressed in clear statements that help in ensuring conformity with law. Oftentimes, quotations are crucial in avoiding major disputes. While substituting a word may not seem like a big deal, there are several words in legal documents that bear high importance in ensuring that the intent of the contract is followed and understood by all parties to the agreement. Without these legal quotations, the terms of the agreement may be broken or misunderstood by one of the parties and lead to major disputes.
A good case in which this may apply is when a legal document states that one party will provide a certain service to another for a pre-determined amount of time. It may seem insignificant to just add a word or a letter and change "2 years" to "4 years" or "10 months" to "12 months," but this small difference in the quotation could have a significant impact on a party providing a service to another. If the party agreed to provide a service for two years, but then the party did not follow through for two years and eleven months, the aggrieved party could have a case for legal action if the words were exchanged properly.
How to Write a Legal Quotation
When you first start negotiating the terms of a deal, are you using oblique legal quotes or even quotations from third parties? Or are you using direct quotes, which are then supported by a written confirmation? Having a template or pre-prepared legal quotation is always helpful. In this way, there are no surprises. Your client would have been involved in the discussion and thereby be on notice that a requirement for a written confirmation is a prerequisite for clear understanding and reconciliation of any variation. A legal quotation prepared in advance can be quite a joy to behold.
What is a quotation? It is an offer, a verbal quotation, a certificate issued by a supplier giving details of and prices for his products to a prospective purchaser, written, quotation of a price, cost estimate, calculation or estimate, price quotation, a written statement of a price for a given thing (goods, services, etc.), a document "which is prepared regarding the price of a product or service, it may contain one or more offers."
The step-by-step process of preparing a quotation Issue written quote as follows: 1. Header (a) Indicate that it is a quotation and what it is relating to, for example "handsfree access systems" (b) It’s critical to get the layout and spacing correct with proper headers, footers, the same font as your business card and consider using the same colors as your website and color printouts. (c) It is also important to have your logo, website address and contact telephone numbers. (d) If your business is a corporation, include your registration number and main business address as well. Your bank account number can be set out in Statement Terms & Conditions. 2. Body (a) Date and time of quote. (b) PO number and location of the relevant site being quoted. (c) If the provision of goods and services is subject to the terms of a particular consumer agreement, make sure that you specify that. Otherwise make sure that your general terms and conditions of trade apply and attach the terms and conditions. (d) Indicate if amounts charged are inclusive or exclusive of VAT. (e) Attach any relevant drawings, photographs or specifications to the quote. 3. Footer (a) Include your page number, for example PAGE 1 OF 5. (b) Your legal registration number should appear here too. 4. Statement Terms & Conditions (a) Refer to your Statement Terms and Conditions regards payment and delivery (See Payment terms) (b) Ensure that the payment due date is indicated as this will determine whether your business is a cash basis or invoice basis business and then refer to the amounts charged as being in compliance with your court rules, e.g. CPA and Consumer Protection Act. (c) For a cash basis business, you only become entitled to sue for payment after the goods have been delivered or the services have been rendered, so use the credit terms appropriately and reliably ensure that the customer pays you before that time or you collect promptly the interest on the overdue amount. (d) You may want to specifically indicate that the quote is valid for a period of time, e.g. 7 days. (e) You can also indicate that the quote is subject to approval by your Managing Director or Chief Financial Officer or appropriate person, in case there is a mistake in the quote. 5. Signatures You may indicate a space for the Managing Director Chief Executive Officer, etc., to sign as approval, or you may want to add your signature as the authorized person, depending on your company’s policy for signing. There must always be someone that old divisions that requires sanctioning the risks and benefits or the differences between two parties. The above steps are a guide only and not a list to be followed in any particular order of priority.
Critical Error in Legal Quotations
Common Mistakes to Avoid in Legal Quotation
When quoting statute directly, problems can arise when individual pieces are broken up in the attempt to make them fit. For example, in the attempt to quote s. 6 of the Alberta Sales Act, lawyers and paralegals have been known to "chop" it up as illustrated: "In determining whether a contract is for the sale of goods, the following rules apply: (a) if the contract is for the sale of a thing specified as being of the description in the sale by sample clause, the goods that are the subject matter of the contract must correspond with the description and must be so described as to be available at the time of making the contract". The quotation appears to have all the required words; however, at 135 words, it doesn’t make sense and would have been better to have just quoted it verbatim! This makes it more difficult for a reader to actually determine the meaning of the statute as intended or to find the original text.
Be careful that any paraphrasing you do in your other documents (e.g. pleadings, affidavits, etc.) don’t change the meaning or punctuation of the original quoted text. Thus, a non-representative review of some common legal documents including pleadings, affidavits and expert’s reports, has found a highly disturbing frequency of errors . Take, for example, the case of an affidavit where set out in paragraph 7 were the words of the Ontario statute: "(a) if the law requires a person to make a record or keep a record, and the record contains information that is wholly or partially in computer or other machine readable form, any reference in this Act to the making of that record includes a reference to the making of that record in that form; a reference in this Act to the keeping of a record includes a reference to the keeping of that record in that form …" If in fact the words in paragraph 7 of the affidavit read as follows: "Section 7(a) of the Information Practices Act provides" and the paragraph continues with exactly the same text as provided above, then you cannot call it a "quotation". It is merely a statutory reference. The reason why it is so important for you to read the statutes is that you cannot accurately and faithfully cite them unless you have read them. Therefore, it is essential for you to become a disciplined and logical reader of the statutes. When you read from the code, you get the necessary internalized impressions that can explode with ideas (and quotes) when you write or converse. When you read or write each idea as a separate paragraph or a separate quote, you lose the ability to logically connect them to each other. By contrast, however, if you can bring together a series of connected, logical ideas in one quote, then you do have a quotation. The trouble is that too many people are careless in judging what is the correct quotation.
Illustrations of Legal Quotation
Transaction documents and tenders are good examples of how legal quotations are used in commercial documents. It’s rare that two parties are in agreement about the terms that they want to include in their legally binding document. Tenders often contain complex legal agreements that include multiple suppliers working in a range of locations. These documents are often very involved, lengthy and over time may become difficult to interpret. Using legal quotations makes this type of document easier to proofread, understand and quickly identify any issues.
All quotes should be straightforward, but also include terms that have different meanings in everyday language and the law. Examples of legal quotations:
Sample No. 1 – Landed Cost Quotation SUPPLY Deliveries MNX4907 in the estimated amount of $3,636.00 (Three Thousand Six Hundred Thirty Six dollars No Cents) ex charge from manufacturer’s plant. Foreign freight prepaid. CNF Calgary to Denver. Estimated Import Duties and Clearing. Price subject to adjustment for variation in Customs Duties, Excise Duties, or Provincial or Federal taxes assessed subsequent to the submission of the quotation Deposit 25% on acceptance of this quotation. Balance on date of order. Terms & Payment: Cheque or wire transfer with order Packaged for ocean freight Offered 60 days Valid for 30 days ***** PLEASE CONFIRM IF ACCEPTED BY SIGNING & RETURNING Sample No. 2 – Commercial Contract Quotation IMPORTANT: In addition to the Privacy Legislation, there are other privacy legislation in place that restricts the collection and use of personal information. You consent to our use, disclosure or collection of personal information you submit to us in accordance with the language of this quotation, including for the purposes of sending you notices of sales, and other advertisements and offers we may make to you. If that’s not what you intended, please contact us immediately.
Legal Quotation FAQs
FAQ – Legal Quotation
Q: Is a legal quotation a legally binding contract?
A: Yes, as long as it has both parties’ signatures. A legal quotation is pretty much the same as a legal contract as the content is what makes it a legal agreement. However, in cases of disagreement, it’s always good to have a legal quote in writing to prove what was agreed.
Q: Can I change the terms of my legal quotation after it has been signed?
A: Once a legal quotation has been signed by both parties, it can’t be changed. If either party wishes to change the terms afterwards then this should be done in writing and an amendment sent out to both parties . This keeps everything clear and in writing so that there are no misunderstandings or arguments down the line.
Q: What happens if I dispute a legal quotation I made in the past?
A: Unfortunately, if a legal quotation has been signed by both parties it is a legally binding contract. Therefore, unless the legal quotation can be proven to contain a mistake, you have no choice but to fulfil your end of the bargain. The other party may also choose to take you to small claims court in order to ensure you stick to the agreement you both signed up to.