Over the past 25 years, e-mail has gone from a novelty to a necessity. As its importance has grown, so has its volume. Today, busy lawyers can be inundated with hundreds of e-mail messages a day. Having been an early proponent of e-mail (I’ve had an account since the mid-1980s), I’ve learned a few tricks along the way and like to share some of my favorites.

The first thing to consider is your firm’s domain name. When not-yet-born children have their own domain names, there’s no excuse for viable law firms not to have domain, website and e-mail address. A domain name locates an entity or organization on the internet. That name, like my www.losinc.com, actually represents an IP (internet protocol) address, which locates the host server where that domain’s files are kept.

To see your firm’s IP address, go to Start/Run, type CMD for a DOS prompt. Then, type “ping” followed by your domain name (e.g., ping losinc.com) and you’ll see your website’s IP address. Multiple domains can be set to point to the same web pages. For example, my company owns www.losinc.com, www.carolschlein.com and www.lawofficesystems.com. All bring you to the same web page.

Think of a domain name as a firm’s main telephone number. Now, consider the costs if that phone number is changed: new stationery, business cards and a mailing to all contacts about the change. While it’s less expensive to change an e-mail address, it’s very inexpensive to purchase a domain name that can be kept as long as the renewal fees are paid. Website domains can cost as little as $10 annually from companies like Registerfly.com. Even if you want to keep an AOL e-mail address for personal use and use that software to manage the e-mail, you can — and should — have a domain name and e-mail address that identify you as a lawyer.

And you may want a free e-mail service for messages from groups or lists you belong to. With an additional e-mail account, you can separate less-urgent messages from client work.

Checking schedule

To conquer e-mail, re-think how you interact with it. I often argue with clients about their need to be notified instantly whenever a new message arrives. My recommendation is to control your e-mail (and by extension, clients’ expectations) by designating several times during the day to check e-mail. This prevents continually being interrupted by minor issues or worse, by spam. Let your contacts know that if something is truly urgent, don’t try to reach you by e-mail.

Until recently, I checked e-mail as soon as I arrived at the office, then about every two hours and shortly before I left. I just changed that habit after noticing most items arriving overnight were junk, personal or related to my volunteer activities. I often became distracted by those and didn’t get to my actual (paying) work until later in the morning. Now, I check e-mail about an hour after I arrive, which gives clients and prospects time to send messages worth interrupting my tasks. This small change has made me more productive and responsive to clients.

Build a RAFT

Managing e-mail requires a change in thinking — don’t think of your inbox as your to-do list. Professional organizers tout the RAFT system for managing mail. RAFT can stand for either Read, Action, File or Toss or for Refer, Act, File or Toss. Either way, the point is your inbox shouldn’t become a huge filing cabinet.

E-mail should be handled once and be finished. For those with Outlook, use the folders to file e-mail you want to keep. In nearly every e-mail program, you can create rules to automatically file e-mail based on the sender, subject or other criteria. This is especially useful if you belong to lists that often send hundreds of messages a day. Even better are practice management programs that allow lawyers to connect incoming and outgoing e-mail directly to case files.

Whether you prefer “refer” or “read” in the RAFT procedure, both must be addressed. Read and delete those that needn’t be saved or acted upon. Forwarding e-mail is an effective way to notify others about actions they should take or about information they should know. Too often, however, people also forward the attachments with the message. Essentially, this results in multiple copies of the same attachment consuming server space. Over time, this can force the firm to upgrade storage sooner than necessary. If documents are managed effectively, there’s no reason to send copies of a document around the office. It’s better to alert others to the document’s location. There also should be a system for the times when several people receive the same attachment. There’s no need for each person to save a copy or keep it attached to a saved e-mail.

Maintenance

Another part of e-mail management is maintenance. To me, Outlook makes it too easy to keep unimportant information. It’s configured to ask you periodically to archive older messages. Consider this the electronic equivalent of a robot reviewing paper files and pulling all documents older than one year (or any other time frame) without your intervention. I’ve often seen huge numbers of e-mail identified to be deleted that still are sitting in e-mail software. It’s too easy to forget to “take out the garbage.” Remember, there’s a “sent” box that collects all outgoing e-mail that includes both the incoming message and your response. It’s ironic that most e-mail programs focus on filing incoming mail when the more useful documents to keep are those with the original message along with your response. Consider how to handle sent e-mail as part of your management.

And while we’re talking about sending e-mail, use the “receipt” option sparingly. I’m amazed how often I receive low priority e-mail that require a confirmation of receipt. Change the settings so that most messages do not request a receipt; use the confirmation option only when something is urgent or you truly must verify when or whether an e-mail reached its intended recipient. Each time you use a receipt requested e-mail, you’re doubling the number of back-and-forth messages.

I constantly encounter attorneys who don’t handle their own e-mail, but have their secretary print the messages and write responses. I can only imagine the extra reams of paper consumed. Consider the environment and print only what must be preserved on paper.

Hardest task

The hardest of the four RAFT components is “act.” It’s too easy to leave e-mail that require action accumulating in the in-box. With the right mindset and tools — and checking mail when it’s less intrusive within the work day — you will more effectively act on the e-mail that require follow-up. This can either be a reply, making a to-do or task record, adding an appointment, making a phone call or drafting a document. The important point is, don’t leave e-mail in the in-box until the amount is overwhelming.

Part of the problem is dealing with unwanted e-mail. Spam or bulk mail also can carry viruses or lure you to websites asking for personal information to either send more unwanted e-mail or place viruses onto your computer. While it’s a constant battle, firms should have a tool for blocking or reducing the amount of spam. There are many good blockers at reasonable prices, but even the best will let some junk through or attempt to block e-mail you want. Most offer easy screens to allow you to manage what’s allowed and what should be blocked.

Firm-wide products usually charge per mailbox per month. There also are products for individual computers. The advantage of system-wide blockers is they connect with your e-mail before it goes to the server. This is particularly useful if attorneys check e-mail from cell phones or from other locations without spam filters.

Most of us have a love/hate relationship with e-mail. Applying time and paper management techniques and changing our own and our clients’ expectations about how we use e-mail will go a long way toward making it a more pleasant and less stressful experience.

Carol L. Schlein is president of Law Office Systems in Montclair, a training and consulting firm specializing in law firm automation. Copies of previous columns are on her company website, www.losinc.com. For information about her quarterly meetings for Time Matters users, check the website or e-mail info@losinc.com. Schlein formerly chaired the Computer and Technology Division of the ABA Law Practice Management Section.

Questions for Carol L. Schlein on law office technology may be faxed to New Jersey Lawyer at (732) 650-7010, e-mailed to news@njlnews.com or mailed to “Law Technology Questions,” New Jersey Lawyer, Edison Square, 2035 Lincoln Highway, Suite 3005, Edison, N.J. 08817.