Extract data from demand letters

A demand letter is the formal notice one party sends another to demand payment or action before taking a dispute to court. It is often the last step before litigation: a business or its attorney sets out what is owed, why it is owed, and what will happen if the demand is not met by a stated date. Litigation paralegals opening a matter file, in-house counsel logging a claim made against the company, and insurer recovery teams all read the same structure, who is making the demand and against whom, the basis of the claim, the amount demanded with any interest, the deadline to comply, and the consequence threatened if the deadline passes. Unlike a routine accounts-receivable dunning notice, a demand letter frames a legal claim, so it usually names the attorney, the law firm, and a bar number, and it cites the contract or the events the claim rests on. Amounts are rarely a single number, and the claim rarely rests on a single ground. One demand can combine a principal of 48,000 USD with accrued interest of 1,920 USD and separately itemized damages, and the total has to reconcile against its parts. Grounds for the claim point to a specific contract, invoice, or prior correspondence, and a letter can list several items, an unpaid delivery and a defective-work remediation, each with its own amount and its own legal or contractual footing. Notice type, whether a payment demand, a cease-and-desist, or a breach-of-contract notice, changes what the letter is actually asking for. Because a demand letter is a legal document, pulling its fields is a records task and nothing more: the extraction reports what the letter states and does not assess the merits, advise on a response, or offer any collections or legal guidance. Talonic reads the demand letter and returns the claimant and defendant, the basis of the claim, the amount demanded with any interest, the payment deadline, the stated consequence, and the attorney details as fields, keeping the itemized claims and the damages breakdown as tables. A breach-of-contract demand dated 2026-06-30 from Ironside Manufacturing Inc. against Copperline Contractors LLC, issued by Dana Whitfield of Whitfield and Marsh LLP, demanding 49,920 USD, a 48,000 USD principal plus 1,920 USD interest, by 2026-07-21 under supply contract SC-2025-0331, loads into a matter file so a paralegal reads the claim and the deadline from fields rather than the letter, with no view attached on the claim itself.

What gets extracted from demand letters

How extraction works for demand letters

Demand letters are drafted by attorneys and by claimants directly, and they reach a matter file as signed PDFs and scanned copies where the claim, the amount, and the deadline sit in prose. Talonic classifies the letter and routes it through the contract schema in the Field Registry, which separates the parties from the claim, the amounts, and the demand terms. Claimant and defendant are captured with their addresses, the basis of the claim is kept with any referenced contract or invoice, and the demanded amount is typed as a number in one currency and reconciled against the principal, the interest, and the itemized damages, so a total that does not equal its parts is flagged. Payment deadline and the stated consequence of non-compliance are read as their own fields, the attorney, the law firm, and the bar number are captured, and the itemized claims and the damages breakdown return as tables. Each value carries a confidence score and a pointer back to where it sits on the page, conforming to DIN SPEC 91491, so a paralegal can verify the amount or the deadline against the source letter. Records-only by design, this extraction reports what the letter states; it does not assess the claim, recommend a response, or provide legal or debt-collection advice.

Sample extraction

A breach-of-contract demand letter from counsel

{
  "document_number": "DL-2026-0630",
  "document_date": "2026-06-30",
  "notice_type": "breach_of_contract",
  "claimant.name": "Ironside Manufacturing Inc.",
  "defendant.name": "Copperline Contractors LLC",
  "basis_of_claim": "Breach of supply contract SC-2025-0331 for non-delivery and defective work",
  "currency": "USD",
  "total_amount": 49920,
  "interest_amount": 1920,
  "interest_rate": "8% per annum",
  "payment_deadline": "2026-07-21",
  "consequences_of_non_compliance": "Commencement of civil litigation and recovery of costs",
  "attorney_name": "Dana Whitfield",
  "law_firm_name": "Whitfield and Marsh LLP",
  "attorney_bar_number": "OH-0093471",
  "governing_law": "State of Ohio",
  "claim_items": [
    {
      "item_description": "Unpaid delivery, invoice INV-2025-0442",
      "item_amount": 30000,
      "item_basis": "Supply contract SC-2025-0331, section 4",
      "sequence": 1
    },
    {
      "item_description": "Remediation of defective installation work",
      "item_amount": 18000,
      "item_basis": "Supply contract SC-2025-0331, warranty clause",
      "sequence": 2
    }
  ]
}

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