A letter of opinion is a letter written by an expert of a specific topic stating their professional opinion of a matter. Oftentimes, a letter of opinion is used by a lawyer who hired a professional of a specific field to testify on a specific matter for proving the lawyers point. For example, imagine a lawyer is hired to defend a party who is claimed to be a killer. The lawyer might hire a blood splatter expert or forensics expert to write a letter of opinion indicating that a certain event could not take place, or in the case of a murder case, to testify that the defendant could not be the killer.
A letter of opinion also applies when a party is applying for a job or to a school. In the context of a job, the job applicant will use the letter of opinion to prove that they can perform up to the tasks of the jobs requirement. For a student that wants to apply to another school, the might get a letter of explanation from a previous teaching stating how the student had good grades and would be a solid candidate for their next job. This might also be referred to as a letter of recommendation. While both are technically different, the two terms are often used interchangeably.
Context of the Letter of Opinion
A letter of opinion can have both a positive or negative connotation to it. The letter can prove or disprove a fact based on the preferred outcome of the party presenting the letter. Letter of opinions must be taken with a grain of salt however. The party writing the letter has much bearing on the validity of the letter. If the party writing the letter is an associate, friend, or family member of the party the letter is being written for, the letter might not be used or accepted. Furthermore, the party writing the letter should also be examined. Questions to consider are whether the party writing the letter is an actual expert in the field in which the subject is referring to.
A letter of opinion can also be written in response to an article, book, segment of a show, or other. The letter would indicate why the book, articles, or tv segment was invalid and point of contention. Furthermore, the letter would point out facts, other references which dispute that point of view, and other information disputing the other party’s facts.
