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Prevent email avalanches: If you plan to use your email program's autoreply feature, please remember to 'unsubscribe' from your listservs or email groups first. If you don't, your autoreply is sent to the listserv, which sends a copy to everyone on the list, including you. This triggers another email from you to the list, and so on, indefinitely.

Fight junk email. Don't respond to junk emails that offer to remove you from their mailing list if you notify them. Your response may actually provide them with more information about you, prompting them to send you even more junk email. Just delete!

Track emails received from, or sent to, a contact in your Outlook Contacts list
It's easy: in Microsoft Outlook, go to Tools|Options. On the Preferences tab, click Journal Options (next to Contacts). In the Journal Options dialog box, select the email message check box and then select the contact names whose email you want to track. When finished, click OK. When you go to the contact's name in Outlook, click on the Activities tab and choose email from the pull down menu, and you will see all the relevant emails.

 

Metadata is the hidden information embedded in software such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and WordPerfect. From metadata, one can learn the identity of the person generating the document; document creation, revision, deletion and access dates; tracking of document changes; and comments. Examples of law firms inadvertently sharing this kind of info are increasing. Don't subject yourself to embarrassment or worse. If you must email documents in their native format (in order for editing to take place), invest in a metadata "cleaner" - iScrub http://www.esqinc.com/products_iscrub.asp, for example. Whenever possible, save documents as a PDF file, which poses less of a risk. For more information on metadata, see http://tinyurl.com/hx34 and http://tinyurl.com/3yan9.

End Email Hoaxes! Even level-headed attorneys sometimes succumb to email hoaxes. They can come in a variety of forms, from an email petition to missing child alerts to virus warnings, etc. The next time a well-meaning friend or colleague sends you one, do your homework! And don't forget to make sure your staff is educated about email hoaxes. Start debunking with these three sites:
Symantec
McAfee
Urban Legends

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Avoiding a common Outlook e-mistake
Due to privacy concerns, it is especially important for lawyers to avoid one of the most common e-mail mistakes: sending an e-mail to the wrong recipient. In Microsoft Outlook, when you type a recipient's name in the To box of a message, the AutoComplete feature lists the names of possible recipients, including contacts that you deleted or didn't intentionally save. To circumvent this feature, begin by typing the name in the To box of a message. When the AutoComplete list appears, press the DOWN ARROW key to select the address of the deleted contact and press the DELETE key to remove the entry from Outlook's cache.