Email: The Reality in Law in 2013

Prologue and executive summary: This article details my current attitudes about email management, which can be a touchy subject.  I've been on both ends of the spectrum.  However, as of 2013, I've become convinced that no matter what the time management experts say, lawyers as service professionals are oblidged to pick up the pace regarding crafting responses to their clients because that's what the market expects.  Obviously, I invite responses.

I get a lot of emails. You get a lot of emails. Some days, the volume of (and the content contained within) these emails can be overwhelming. 

Many, many pages have been written about managing email. These days, the prevailing advice by time management experts seems to be: (1) turn off your in-box alarm; and (2) set designated times to review and respond to emails.  Email is an interruption says these experts.  Manage the interruption.

Solid advice, but how does that play in real life - especially for professionals whose mission is providing service like no other?

It really doesn’t play at all.

Why?

Because: (1) our clients are paying us good money to respond to questions, requests for assistance, status updates, etc.; (2) they don’t consider their emails to be interruptions; and (3) by virtue of the speed at which our world travels, people – including our clients - have developed an expectation of the “instantness” of a reply. Lastly, (4) if you’re not willing or able to expedite on your email responses, one of your competitors will be glad to (or at least will make the promise to be faster than you when they’re pitching your client).

In 1996, email was quaint.  In 2013, email has largely replaced all other forms of communication in the business world – including the telephone (sorry, we don’t have a lot of clients who text). And though email has replaced the phone and it’s written communication, clients (at least it’s my perception) expect speed and attention akin to a phone call when they email. 

The product of these realities (at least in my book)? The default rule – at least for the service professional is - answer your email ASAP.

Our clients have expectations, which – whether you agree with them or not – have been shaped by the world as it exists in 2013.  Therefore, your decision is whether you’re going to meet the challenge of doing the best to serve your clients’ interests as quickly as practicable/possible or continue to operate in way that suits only your purposes and preferences.  Note: Remember, it’s about the client and not you.

Obviously, there are parameters in which you should work.  You can’t spend all day in front of your laptop or handheld, awaiting for email to respond to.  Moreover, some responses require careful and considered thought and maybe even a telephone call or face-to-face meeting rather than a full-blown written response. 

Notwithstanding these considerations, I’ve developed the opinion that waiting 3-4-5-6 hours to respond to an email that requires a response is not altogether a good idea for the lawyer as service professional.  While you may not have a complete answer at the time the question or request is posed, at the very least respond with the acknowledgement that you have received the email and are working on a reply (along with a timeframe you both can live with for ultimate resolution).  The failure to even acknowledge the client in a timely manner is – in my book – where the lawyer as service profession can get himself or herself crossways with the client.  Don’t cause that pain for the client.

You say, “Fine Stegmaier, you want me to answer emails as close to the time when they come in. That sounds great, but I can’t keep up with that pace, do my other work, and be able to go home at a reasonable time.  How do you fix that?” Well, that sounds like email volume is always heavy, if not too much. If the volume is overwhelming on a daily basis, the overarching problem is capacity, which lends itself to discussions regarding delegation, process, etc.  More on that as well travel down the road of exploring lawyer as service professional.