Your business received a demand letter or a court summons: what to do in the first days
How to respond when a company receives a demand letter or a court summons: check the dates and the filing deadline, preserve evidence, weigh the options, and authorise counsel to act.
Zura Labs & Business Hub Co., Ltd.
On day one, identify whether the document is a private demand letter or a court summons, and record the date received alongside every deadline stated, because the time to file a defence is strict and missing it can cost your ability to argue key points. Next, collect the contracts, invoices and all related correspondence, and never edit or delete messages after the fact. Then take legal advice on the options: negotiate, file a defence, or settle.
Reviewed 2026-09-21 by the Zura Labs corporate services team.
- Identify the document type
- A demand letter from a counterparty differs from a court summons served with a copy of the complaint
- Dates to record
- The date on the document, the date actually received, and every deadline it states
- Evidence to preserve
- Contracts, purchase orders, invoices, transfer records, chats and emails, kept unaltered
- Who can sign
- A power of attorney must be signed by the authorised director per the affidavit, with the seal if required
- The registered address matters
- Service at the registered address has legal effect, so a reliable receive-and-notify routine is essential
- What cannot be promised
- The outcome of a judgment or a negotiation, which depends on the evidence and the court's judgment
How this works in practice
- 01
Log the date and channel of service
Keep the envelope and proof of service, photograph them, and count deadlines from the date of service, not the day someone opened it.
- 02
Freeze deletion and edits
Tell the team to retain related emails, chats and files as they are. Deleting afterwards creates a bigger problem than the dispute itself.
- 03
Build a fact timeline with references
Order events by date with the document backing each one. A good timeline makes the case assessment far faster and sharper.
- 04
Weigh the options before replying
Compare negotiating, defending and settling across time, cash flow and the risk to the business relationship.
- 05
Authorise counsel and name one point of contact
Let counsel handle contact with the other side, and nominate a single internal coordinator so messages from different people do not contradict each other.
Reasons this gets delayed or rejected
Replying emotionally over chat
Messages become evidence immediately and are often used in ways that do not help you.
Letting the filing deadline pass
Missing it forfeits key defences and raises the risk of enforcement on the claim as filed.
Nobody receiving mail at the registered address
Service at the registered address still has effect even if the director never personally saw the document.
Answers to the questions we hear most
Must I reply to every demand letter?
Not every letter should be answered at once, but every letter should be assessed. A rushed reply can concede facts that are still arguable, while silence can also push the other side to file sooner.
Do I have to attend court myself?
Counsel can act for you at many stages, but some hearings — mediation, or testimony that only a director can give — require the party to attend. Counsel will tell you in advance based on the court's schedule.
It was served at our old address. Does that count?
That turns on the facts of service and the registered address at the time. If the company actually moved but never updated the register, the risk sits with the company, so keep the register current.
How do I decide between settling and fighting?
Look at how clear the evidence is on both sides, the value at stake against the cost in time and money, the cash-flow impact, and the long-term business relationship. There is no one-size answer.
What should I preserve from day one?
The contract and its annexes, purchase orders, invoices, payment records, delivery records, and all correspondence including email and chat, kept unaltered with a second backup copy.
This is general preparation information, not case-specific legal or accounting advice. Government fees, processing times and conditions change with official announcements. We review each guide on a schedule and show the review date on the page.