A Cease and Desist letter can be an effective way to stop behavior that is causing harm to your reputation and/or disclosing confidential information.
Since you have several goals in making contact with this person, it seems a letter that includes all of the following may be a good option:
- A demand to cease and desist any further comments about you or your business immediately;
- To return to you any and all documentation related to you and/or your files with him and, after return to you of any that require return, that he destroy any copies he has other than to maintain any records by law that he is required to maintain for any set period of time;
- To terminate any further services by him and to provide a statement that, under the circumstances, no further payment will be made for any such services by you to him;
- And, to make it clear that a failure to resolve this matter to professionally terminate the relationship and cease any actions that may be defamatory and/or interfering with your existing business/contractual relationships may result in your having to take further legal action, which action may be necessary to compensate for harm to your personal and business reputation and financial losses resulting from such conduct.
This kind of letter is often most effective when sent by an attorney on your behalf so that the other party knows that you do have legal counsel ready to take any further steps that may be needed.
I like lawyers.com and avvo.com for finding attorneys for actual representation of you, as the search allows you to search by location (you may want to look both in Illinois and in Florida) and type of law (business disputes; commercial disputes; defamation), and often provide results that identify attorneys who conduct free or low-cost initial consultations.
It is my pleasure to assist you and I hope this information helps. Please let me know if there is any part of your question I failed to answer.
You can also post any follow-up questions you may have and I am happy to answer those as well.
Please note: This information is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. No course of action is being proposed and no attorney-client relationship or privilege has been formed as a result of this conversation.
Upvote if this is a clear answer
Downvote if this is not a clear answer
Create DocumentFull Conversation
I need to give my accountant a Cease and Desist. How can I protect the documents that he has online?
I understand the importance of protecting your documents. Have you discussed your concerns with your accountant?
No, not yet. He doesn’t know I will do.
Are you looking for advice on secure methods of sharing sensitive documents online with your accountant?
Yes please.
Is there anything else the Lawyer should know before I connect you? Rest assured they’ll be able to help with your document security.
Yes, I have an NCDNA signed for him with a passport, and the reason I want to fire him is because he is talking badly about myself and my company, and he has harmed me in several businesses and has created a bad reputation with clients because he wants to start his own business and has spoken badly of suppliers.
Good afternoon. My name is Wendy and I am a licensed attorney, though I may not be licensed in your jurisdiction. Is your primary goal at this point to send the Cease and Desist letter to try to stop the negative statements being made about you, or are you more interested in pursuing legal claims you may have against this accountant to recoup compensation for the harm already caused?
I am interested in stopping him from talking, firing him, and protecting my documents since he has all my information. How can I do this?
And if he has caused me damages, why do clients he has touched by speaking badly no longer want to do business with us? And if I would like to collect damages or have financial compensation?
I want to collect of course.
A Cease and Desist letter can be an effective way to stop behavior that is causing harm to your reputation and/or disclosing confidential information.
Since you have several goals in making contact with this person, it seems a letter that includes all of the following may be a good option:
- A demand to cease and desist any further comments about you or your business immediately;
- To return to you any and all documentation related to you and/or your files with him and, after return to you of any that require return, that he destroy any copies he has other than to maintain any records by law that he is required to maintain for any set period of time;
- To terminate any further services by him and to provide a statement that, under the circumstances, no further payment will be made for any such services by you to him;
- And, to make it clear that a failure to resolve this matter to professionally terminate the relationship and cease any actions that may be defamatory and/or interfering with your existing business/contractual relationships may result in your having to take further legal action, which action may be necessary to compensate for harm to your personal and business reputation and financial losses resulting from such conduct.
This kind of letter is often most effective when sent by an attorney on your behalf so that the other party knows that you do have legal counsel ready to take any further steps that may be needed.
I like lawyers.com and avvo.com for finding attorneys for actual representation of you, as the search allows you to search by location (you may want to look both in Illinois and in Florida) and type of law (business disputes; commercial disputes; defamation), and often provide results that identify attorneys who conduct free or low-cost initial consultations.
It is my pleasure to assist you and I hope this information helps. Please let me know if there is any part of your question I failed to answer.
You can also post any follow-up questions you may have and I am happy to answer those as well.
Please note: This information is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. No course of action is being proposed and no attorney-client relationship or privilege has been formed as a result of this conversation.
Thank you very much, I will do.
I do hope the information is helpful.
