律师函，顾名思义，律师发的函件。一般会直接想到lawyer’s letter或attorney’s lawyer，但其实正如律师意见书常使用legal opinion而非lawyer’s opinion一样，从广义上讲，律师函用的更多的是legal letter。
Legal letter的英文释义如下：
A legal letter is an official communication between an individual and an official component of the law to convey knowledge, data, or information. Legal letters can be sent to court officials, government officials, law firms, companies, and legal advisors, among other places.
由上可知，legal letter的含义较广，包含律师及个人之间发送的所有官方函件，涉及方方面面，与广义的律师函所相对应：
根据功能不同，律师函主要分为：
1．律师催告（敦促）函。是当前最常使用的一种。告即将委托人的意志告知收函人，催即催促收函人做什么或者不做什么。
2．律师询问函。是主要用于了解、询问有关法律事项时使用。
3．律师答复函。是委托律师对特定的质询通过律师来答复的函。
4．其他律师函。
而明星经常发的律师函，往往都是第一种，律师催告（敦促）函。在这种情况下，使用legal letter可能不够准确。参考其英文释义，这一类的律师函则译为“demand letter”更为合适。
A demand letter, letter of demand, or letter before claim, is a letter stating a legal claim which makes a demand for restitution or performance of some obligation, owing to the recipients' alleged breach of contract, or for a legal wrong.
A demand letter is a letter, usually written by an attorney on a client’s behalf, outlining the dispute between the two opposing parties and demanding that the recipient of the letter take or cease a certain action. The purpose of a demand letter is to begin the negotiation process that will hopefully result in dispute resolution to avoid filing a claim in court if it is possible to resolve the issue without litigation.
（Wikipedia）
以下为相关双语示例，供参考：
该律师函强调了苹果应用商店对其移动策略的重要性，并且表明苹果将其门面作为区分其与其他竞争者的方式之一。
The demand letter highlights the importance of Apple's App Store to its mobile strategy and how much it views the storefront as a way to differentiate itself from competitors.
转载自：译问 作者：旗渡多语信息中心（出海信息服务）
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