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Paralegals & Legal Secretaries

: Practical Paralegalism

Hold That Thought...

By Lynne DeVenny

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...Before You Email It

Today my supervising attorney and I shared a good laugh over an email sent by an opposing party, obviously fired off in a fit of pique. The next email from the opposing party was a recall notice of the previous email, but that horse had already left the stable. Most of us know there aren't really any take-backs in email.

Even though I'm still grinning at the deliciously brief but less than professional sentiment expressed by the opposing party, I'm also thinking, "Whew, there but for the grace of God go I." In the wrong hands, email is the equivalent of a lethal weapon. In a litigation setting, it is a weapon of mass destruction.

But this laugh at someone else's expense reminded me that no matter how much we may pride ourselves on our ability to quickly clear out our email inboxes, it's worth taking the extra 30-60 seconds to do the following before hitting "send":

Carefully review the intended recipients. Do all of them need to see the email? ("Reply All" can be the kiss of death.) Do you have the correct email addresses?

Are you trying to dazzle the recipient with your rapier wit? Remember, sarcasm and inside jokes rarely translate in print. What you think is hilarious might not amuse opposing counsel - or your supervising attorney.

Are you trying to pulverize the recipient with your righteous wrath? You might want to leave the email in your draft box for several hours, and then reconsider your tone and language. Will anger achieve the results you want for your client? Your email could be an exhibit to a future pleading, or the subject of an Above the Law post...