The First Sentence in a client letter should be a Sentence of Reference, which includes a name, a date, and a method; because eight months from now the controller for the client will check the books, see $23,000 in legal fees, and want to know, “Who authorized this?” And there it is in your opening sentence: who did it, when they did it, and how they did it.

A Typical First Sentence:

 We are writing to present our preliminary analysis of the claims for breach of contract and breach of the overtime provisions of the Illinois Labor Code that the plaintiffs have asserted in the Uzumi case.

A Better Way:

As you requested in my office last Wednesday, I have analyzed Uzumi’s claims for breach of contract and breach of the overtime provisions in the Illinois Labor Code.

We know who “you” is, that the request occurred during a face-to-face meeting, and today’s date, so, if we have to, we can determine the date last Wednesday.

Another version:

As Megan Gilroy requested in her letter of March 20, 2013, . . .

Start framing your letter in the First Sentence with the reason you are writing: someone, on this day, and in this manner, asked me to. Next week: Part 2, The Second Sentence – Your Conclusion.