CBA Record November-December 2022

When sending an email with an attachment, always open and look at the attachment one last time before sending it. —Clifford Gately, Quarles & Brady Don’t send a password to a secure Word document or PDF in the

same email as the Word document or PDF! —Theodore S. Kontopoulos, FORVIS

7. Special problems with listservs: Sometimes “reply” means “reply all” Beware of listserv replies. Some listservs post your reply to the entire listserv, even without hitting Reply All. Some don’t. It varies. For example, on an academic listserv, I saw that someone had posted a job listing. Another listserv member replied with what she obviously intended to be a personal reply. She recommended her daughter for the position and went on to tell her daughter’s accomplishments in detail. However, instead of being a private reply to the sender, her reply went to thousands of professors nationwide. The next post on the listserv was “Helicopter mom!” Unless you know the rules of the listserv, play it safe and forward an email reply to the writer, if possible. It the listserv does not show the individual’s personal email address, then reply assuming the entire listserv can see your email. You may invite the author to contact you off list. Pet Peeve: People spamming a listserv with “Please remove me from this listserv” requests instead of directing such requests to admins. —Trisha M. Rich, Holland & Knight LLP 8. Tone: Watch your language! Email is notoriously bad at conveying tone. For example, it can be difficult to request a response (especially if it’s overdue) without sounding too harsh or passive aggressive. According to a recent study by Word Finder by Your Dictionary, the follow ing words are among the most passive-aggressive phrases in the workplace today: • Per our last conversation • As per my last email • Friendly reminder • Thanks in advance Be careful if you use these phrases; recipients may label you pas sive aggressive. Here’s a story of what can happen when your tone is off, and a tip to avoid this pitfall. Before hitting “send,” read the email as though you were receiving it cold. Check to see if there are any ambiguities or ways in which the email could be misconstrued. Very often the same language when received has a different meaning than when sent. Besides stories of Reply All disasters, the most common bad results come from the sender trying to be sarcastic or funny but coming across as mean and vindictive. It can create hard feelings all around. —John Levin, Retired

9. Avoid acronyms and abbreviations Acronyms may save space, but they may also confuse your reader. Here are some tongue-in-cheek examples. Avoid use of unconventional acronyms that people over 39 may not recognize. These include EOM (means End of Message, and not Evidence of Murder); EOD (means End of Discussion, not Eve of Destruction); YAM (means Yet Another Meeting, not Yucky and Mucky); TBC (means To Be Continued, not Trial by Combat); OOO (means Out of Office, not Oy Oy Oy); and IMO (means In My Opinion, and not I Must Object). —Justice Michael B. Hyman, Illinois Appellate Court 10. Do not write in anger It is all too easy to write an email quickly and click send. Unfor tunately, angry emails live forever and may come back to haunt you. Here are thoughts on this topic. On several occasions you may be emailing with coworkers who wanted to vent but instead hit reply all or accidentally kept someone on the response. Before sending such emails, save them in draft and let them simmer for the night. Review in the morning. Most will be deleted. —Daniel A. Cotter, Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC Never send, or respond to, an email when you’re upset, angry, or frustrated. You may write a reply but wait 24 hours and reread it before hitting Send. —Judge Jasmine Villaflor Hernandez, Circuit Court of Cook County Bonus Tip Remember that email is professional correspondence. Even though it’s easy, often too easy, to write and send an email, we must live up to our responsibilities as attorneys. New York City Civil Court judge Gerald Lebovitz, summed it up well: When attorneys correspond in their professional capacity, it reflects on their capacity as professionals. —Gerald Lebovitz, Email Netiquette for Lawyers, N.Y. State Bar Ass’n J., Nov.-Dec. 2009, at 54-59. CBA RECORD 37