You are a senior solicitor and act for the plaintiff in a personal injury matter….

You are a senior solicitor and act for the plaintiff in a personal injury matter. Your client was injured in a car accident on his way to work and, in your view, the lawyers for the ‘at-fault’ driver’s insurance agency have been deliberately difficult in dragging out negotiations, in order to force your client to settle for less than his reasonable entitlements.
On 5 September you received a list of documents from the other firm by way of disclosure, and made an appointment to inspect the documents the following day.
Going through the boxes of documents with a trainee solicitor from the other firm, you found a report which had been listed as ‘privileged’ in the list of documents but which should have been disclosed to your firm (that is, marked as ‘not privileged’). You questioned the trainee solicitor (Mr John Smith) about this. He said he thought there might have been a mistake, but he would need to check with his supervisors before confirming, as this was the first time he had prepared a list of documents.
On the way home, you became furious that the other firm had tried to hide an important document from you. Mr Smith told you that he had put together the list of documents, and you are concerned that he may have mis-categorised the report deliberately and is not demonstrating the qualities of honesty and candour that are expected of a member of the legal profession. If drawn to the Court’s attention, the error might be relevant on the question of costs, but you wonder whether it might also be used to give your client the upper hand in negotiations (if the other firm wishes to avoid professional embarrassment).
You have drafted the following correspondence, and need to put it in the appropriate form and make any necessary amendments so that it complies with the formal letter-writing conventions and ethical principles outlined in the material for week two (Relations with other lawyers and legal letter-writing)