Chuck Newton had a post this morning called, *!#@ The E-mail. Can We Talk..
Chuck mentions that we were having a conversation about something he and I are working on and about his possible switch from the dark side of the force to the Mac. I finally told him we should talk on the phone about this.
As Chuck states in his post, Email is good to a point, but it is not a substitute for a fluid conversations about a subject. I use email a lot and would not want to work without it. But there are times we should pick up the phone and talk to that person live.
The bottom line is that we, as attorneys, need to own technology. It does not need to own us. And, in owning technology, we need to strive to use it properly. It should never become an tool to avoid the hard discussions and issues surrounding a case or a dispute.
We should never use email to avoid the hard to deal with opposing counsel or impossible client. And, as one of those attorneys who uses technology to its fullest advantage, we should never be the one accused of avoiding a hard situation with our technology.
Susan Cartier-Liebel also reminds us in her post Overusing E-mail Turns Clients Off, can also be a problem.
E-mail is a wonderful device to add to attorneys’ arsenal of communication tools. Yet if this electronic interloper is overused, or used thoughtlessly, it can both disrupt and destroy the attorney-client relationship. E-mail must not be used in lieu of normal and necessary one-on-one communications between lawyers and their clients. It should only be used as an aid to that communication.
While I use email to communicate with clients, I don’t dismiss the importance of the phone call or in person meeting. What I do use email for with clients is to exchange documents, provide quick updates and answer their quick questions. And if distance is an issue, this really comes in handy.
What we have to be careful of in our emails to our clients is our tone.
Attorneys who rely on e-mail to communicate with their clients because it is a more efficient use of their time should consider this interesting statistic: 50 percent of the time, recipients of e-mail will misinterpret the tone of the missive yet the recipient believes they have correctly interpreted the tone 90 percent of the time. Couple that statistic with the reality that, generally, e-mails lack the formality of the written letter.
Watch how you structure your words and sentences in your emails to your clients. Many times, at least in my practice, our clients are facing a lot of emotions. They may take our emails wrong and be offended by the words we use. Again, don’t be afraid to pick up the phone at the slightest sign of confusion on the part of your client.
While we have to use technology to provide the best possible service to our clients we can. Lets not overuse it and lets not forget the importance of a friendly voice on the other end of the phone.
