Allocatur

Email - Does it have You Under its Thumb?

Email and its immediacy has created a whole new world for lawyers - and a big dilemma.  Much of the work we do requires intense concentration and periods of time without interruption.  Too many lawyers I know (self included) solve this problem by working early in the morning or late into the evening. 

How many of us have days where we really feel productive?
We are more likely to end the day feeling that we have taken two steps forward and three steps backward. A New Scientist article reports findings on interruptions - that on average a worker is interrupted every 3 minutes, and it then takes 2 different tasks and 23 minutes to return to the original task.  It's possible to close the door and divert or turn off your phone, but how do you control emails.

10 tips for controlling Emails

1. When you are initially retained, discuss the client's expectations regarding email.  Explain that there are times when you are not able to respond immediately to emails - including when you are in conference with other clients, in court, or spending dedicated time to undertake work requiring concentration, such as drafting.  I explain to clients that having dedicated time to concentrate, results in my producing quality work more efficiently (and therefore cost effectively) and therefore is beneficial to them.  If something is urgent and needs immediate attention, I ask that the client telephone and explain the urgency, in which case they will receive immediate attention.
2. Turn off the email notification
   - whether it be a "beep", pop-up, or notification in your scrollbar.
3. Turn on your "out of office" notification if your email system has this feature.
4. Use rules to sort email into folders
5. Make clear to your other team members when CC is to be used. 
   If they would not normally give you a hard copy of the letter, why do you want a copy of the email?  Emails are a great way of micromanaging, but is this your preferred managment style?
6. Use shorthand in your address line - and encourage others to do the same
   for example - fyi (for your information), nrn (no response required), sro (short response only).
7. Get one major task out the way at the start of the day before you check you email  (courtesy of Julie Morgernstern via Lifehacker
8. Educate your direct reports and other team members to think before they write, and to edit emails.  Too often emails are a "stream of thought" - if you wouldn't put it in a letter, don't put it in an email.
9. Sometimes it is actually better to pick up the phone.  It may be more efficient to actually speak - rather than do the electronic chit chat.
10. You could adopt my husband's approach.  On returning from holidays to some hundreds of emails, he deleted them all without reading them, on the basis that if anything was really important,  the sender was likely to follow up in some way.  Of hundreds deleted, only 20 came back!

10 Ways to use Email Well

Much of my job involves reviewing law firm files and it amazes me how many people treat emails as a form of informal chit-chat.  I have previously posted on the possibility of defaming a client in an email, but there are some other important issues involving email security.  The June Law Practice magazine from Law Practice Section of the American Bar Association lists a number of "The Dumb Things Lawyers do with Their Emails".  Some of these may seem pretty basic, but I see them in emails on a regular basis.

1. Check the spelling and grammar.
2. Remember email lives forever.
   - and is discoverable in a negligence action or dispute with the client, or in other relevant litigation.  As the article recommends, don't email in anger, and if you have something private to say, say it personally.
3. Look carefully at the recipient name before you hit send.
   Send that advice on liability to the opposing lawyer rather than the client, and then phone your PI insurer.
4. Remember that you have a BCC field
   Sending a mass email without using the BCC field can seriously annoy recipients who didn't want their email address disclosed to all and sundry.
5. Don't send out meta data unless you intend to.
   Many Australian lawyers don't even know what meta data is, let alone how it can be used.  Meta data can the date the document was created, disclose the author, the number and date of revisions, and possibly revisions that have been made.
6. Email can be a great marketing tool.
   There are some great sites with classy or amusing (and PC) ecards to send to client for birthdays, thanks and the like.  Many firms use email very effectively to send email newsletters and practice updates.  But make it easy for a recipient to remove themselves from the mailing list and be vigilant in doing so if a request is made.  In any event, in Australia, you will also need the client's authority to send mass emails.

I might add a few of my own.

1. Limit the number of attachments you send with a single email.  There are many systems which will block large files.
2. Remember to use the receive and read flags judiciously, but where you absolutely need to ensure the email is received.
3. Never commit to email your personal opinion about another person - unless it is unreservedly positive.
4. Personal email should be on your personal email account, not on your business email system

.Email is a wonderful tool as long as you are alert to the dangers!

Colour your Arguments?

A really interesting post by Matt Homan on a different way to prepare presentations and other marketing materials. Using colours to breakdown the material into facts, humour and audience participation makes you look at the presentation in a different light.

Using it to present an argument in court might lighten court proceedings a little - although the use of blue (representing audience participation) perhaps should be discouraged in a court room!

Are you a McDonalds or an Ikea delegator?

How do you delegate? A McDonalds delegator specifies in precise detail what is to be done and how - but not leaving room for the delegatee to take a different (and perhaps better) approach. The delegatee learns little from the exercise. The delegation is micromanaged, and the delegator spends too much time on the task. Therefore the delegation is inefficient.

The Ikea delegator gives instructions which may appear to have been interpreted from another language, and when the delegatee receives the instructions, some key "bits and pieces" may be missing. The delegatee has a general idea of what the end picture should be be, but can spend a great deal of time getting to an imperfect result. Given the time involved, the cost of the delegation may be significantly greater if the task had been undertaken only by the delegator. Also, the end result may not be satisfactory and the delegator may spend more time correcting or redoing the task. Again, the delegation is inefficient.

Tips for Effective Delegation

Consider the appropriate person to delegate to.
Except in exceptional circumstances, no more than one level of staff should be involved in the delegation. Avoid the partner delegating to the senior associate who delegates to the 1st year solicitor who delegates to the summer clerk. This results in enormous duplication of effort which cannot be recovered from the client.

Explain how the task fits into the whole picture.
Giving a brief background to the matter puts the
task in context and helps the person being given the task understand what is required.

Explain fully what is required – outcomes and expectations.
If you have a picture in mind of what the outcome will be, explain that. If a research project for example, will the outcome be a 20 page treatise or a 1 page summary? If necessary give guidance on how to do the task, particularly if there is one way which will be significantly more efficient – but don’t micromanage. Set out any deadline, and give pointers to any relevant resources. Most importantly in terms of costs, explain the expected outcome in terms of length of time to be expended, (is this a 5 hour job or a 1 hour job?).

Ask the person being given the task if they understand what they are expected to do.
If necessary, get them to tell you in their own words. Emphasis that they should come back for further direction or with questions if they are not clear.

Give feedback on completion of the task.
This is the only way of ensuring continuing improvement and development.

Will Your Law Firm Service Company have to Repay Clients?

Thanks to Simon Lewis (http://www.sinch.com.au/seminfor) for referring me to the release from the Queensland Legal Services Commissioner regarding charges for outlays and disbursements. Any markup on these will now have to be disclosed to clients and the client's consent obtained. This ruling also applies to service companies. In that instance, the law firm will be required to disclose the interest in the service company or other entity which is charging marked up disbursements.

Not only that but firms will need to refund markups from 1 July 2004 to avoid prosecution. It will be interesting to see if the ruling is followed up in other states. Certainly, in Victoria, markups on disbursements will not be recoverable other than in accordance with specific provision in a Cost Agreement. Some years ago the Law Institute of Victoria alerted practitioners to the difficulties of charging file management and file opening charges. The full release is at http://www.lsc.qld.gov.au/policies/guidelines.pdf