Received a Cease and Desist letter

[jee]

I received a Cease and Desist letter from a friend's brother by email. He asked me not to contact his sister and family. I never talked to this guy, can he send me C&D letter? How can I defense myself?

[Xavierlives]

I received a Cease and Desist letter from a friend's brother by email. He asked me not to contact his sister and family. I never talked to this guy, can he send me C&D letter? How can I defense myself?

Well, as you can probably guess a letter of this form is nothing more than a letter "requesting" you to stop from doing something. No legal action has been filed. Most letters of this sort have the intent to avoid legal action, but because any can write them (especially an email) it is hard to guage whether it is really a threat of action of mere puffery. Moreover, most attorneys would take the time to have a letter drawn up on letterhead instead of shooting out an email.

As to the contacting the sister or family issue. You haven't been entirely clear on what type of contact you are engaging in or whether the sister is a willing participant, so it is hard to say much.