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When the Greeks could not capture Troy by conventional means, they used the "gift" of the wooden horse to get inside the city. Once inside, the soldiers concealed in the horse opened the city gates for the Greek army to enter.
Is e-mail the modern version of the Trojan Horse? It may be that the firm lets email into its system with open arms, only to discover that it is a demon. Email causes havoc with personal organisation and can drive you mad with the constant bleep of new messages. And of course, you then feel that you have to respond straight away! There are other dangers: of hastily written responses which reflect badly on the firm, and worse.
Despite the many advantages of email, here are some of the risks involved.
i) Volume. The greatest risks are to those who receive a large number of emails and for whom the speed of response is part of the service to the client. Residential conveyancing is the prime example and already it is not unusual to find fee earners in London firms getting up to 200 messages each day. When that person is away for just a few days they could come back to over 500 messages! How do they manage? When do they check them? On what basis do they reply to or check some, but not others?
ii) Deletion v retaining. How long are they kept? What system do you have to print and file such messages - they are part of the correspondence file, after all? In my view there is a strong case for the firm providing backup facilities for the long term retention of all e-mails.
iii) Control and liability. How do you control the social/private e-mail - "what are we doing for lunch today?" or the jokes book, or worse - the electronic rumour? And above all, where are the checks for the partners to ensure they have control over incoming and outgoing mail?
iv) Disclaimers. These vary widely but it is a mystery to me why their use in e-mail is so sporadic, when in faxes, the disclaimer is in universal use. The choice of what to use or indeed whether to use it rests with the firm, but it should not rest with the individual.
It is important for the partners to be seen to supervise incoming and outgoing mail - and as time goes on, email may well take over from the traditional postal arrangements. Think of the likely future of residential conveyance when the package of draft papers will all sent by e-mail, having been compiled by e-mail connections to the NLIS, the agent and the client.
However, there is a problem. The very process of interrupting the flow of messages by intercepting them (or even some of them) will slow down the whole process and will put us a disadvantage with any direct competitors who do not feel the need to do this. And there are practical problems: the main one is how will the partners have the time to check, if messages are running at a rate of about 150-250 per day per fee earner?
I think that some method of control needs to be devised, preferably with the help of the Law Society, so that the profession have some guidelines about the issue.
In the meantime, we need to devise protocols ourselves for the use of the e-mail system and we need to train people to use the facility to its best advantage, while minimising risk to the firm. Logically one should look at a 3 stage process:
1. Agree, establish and write down protocols for the whole firm. Ensure that when it is introduced and becomes widespread, all personnel are using email in the same way.
2. Train the staff at all levels, so that variations are not allowed, or if they are allowed, they are legitimate for the differing work patterns for the type of work (not the type of worker!). People must also be more aware of what the systems can offer - filing, sorting, sifting, downloading, etc.
3. Establish checks to ensure compliance.
Here is a suggested formula for the personal organisation of e-mail use, which is offered only as start:
1. Check it regularly. [How regularly?]
2. Set up files and folders where new mail will be sent.
3. Establish reading priorities based on subject/file and sender.
4. Respond promptly, even if just acknowledging.
5. Save all, and print regularly - thereby creating your file of correspondence.
6. Delete regularly - no-one should have a substantial number of old messages on their system. [some may consider automatic deletion as part of the system, but that has its dangers!]
7. Ensure that you use the automated response system when you are away from your desk for any length [specified?] of time.
1. Prepare what you intend to say "off line" (unless you have a permanent connection).
2. Use descriptive - but professional - subject lines.
3. Be professional and do not relax to the point of informality. Remember, this is correspondence and may be seen by a Judge.
4. Be brief and be polite.
5. Tell the recipient what action you want them to take, early in the message.
6. If replying, check who else is getting it and edit the list if necessary.
7. Save all - for creating your file.
8. Regularly delete old mail, after printing it.
See also Paul McGrath's article in the November/December 2001 issue where a number of further important issues are raised, particularly related to legal aspects - this article has concentrated on the practical aspects of email survival!
I love using e-mail. For me as a freelance consultant I use it constantly but I cannot contemplate what effect it might have if I were to work in an environment where I get and send up to 500 messages every day! If this isn't to drive us all mad, we have to devise controls and support, systems and training.
Stephen Hammett is a freelance Training Consultant. He was on the Law Society Council from 1986-1994.
Email stephenhammett@lineone.net
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