Today I experienced the horror of a misdirected email. Luckily, the email was unrelated to any client work or confidential matters; but the experience sent a chill down my spine. Fortunately, the recipients of my wayward email were incredibly ethical attorneys. Not only did they assure me that they did not review my email, but they consoled me with a variety of horror stories about misdirected emails that they themselves had either sent or received.
The experience prompted me to reread a great article about the dangers of email, by Robert Barrer, published in the March 2015 edition of NYLER. Here are Robert's 10 Best Practices for email, printed at the end of his article:
10 Best Practices When Using Email
1. Before using email, consider whether it’s the best method for the particular communication. Never respond to any message without thinking of the consequences of that communication becoming public.
2. Remove excessive “strings” of messages from email and include only what’s necessary.
3. Remove attachments unless necessary. Never send an email message without knowing exactly what’s on every page of an attachment. Consider stripping metadata (hidden information embedded within a document or message), or sending a PDF or facsimile version of the document, to minimize the risk of inadvertent disclosure of metadata.
4. Rename messages when appropriate. Delete excessive “FW” and “RE” references in the subject line.
5. Turn off the “Suggest Names” option to avoid automatically filling in the wrong name. Enable “spell check” for all outgoing messages.
6. Consider drafting email messages without the “To,” “Cc,” and “Bcc” fields being completed until after your message is drafted, and you are sure it’s complete. This will avoid the transmission of messages to anyone unless you are absolutely sure that they are the intended recipients.
7. Hitting “Reply to All” is always a disfavored practice and should only be used as a last resort.
8. If you are a recipient of a “Bcc” message, do not hit “Reply to All” because you may be disclosing something that the sender intended to keep confidential.
9. Clean out your Inbox by filing or printing relevant messages and deleting extraneous messages. Mark messages that require your attention as “Unread” in order to differentiate them from messages that have already been read and require no immediate action on your part.
10. Take a deep breath before sending any email message. Watch your language and grammar. Remember: Nothing is funny when it’s used as an exhibit in a lawsuit, or as an example of poor judgment or violation of policy.
I hope that all of you dear readers never experience the horror of the misdirected email. But, if you do, take comfort that you are not alone.