In an article I wrote long ago, I encouraged law firm managers and owners not to manage by email. Email is mainly ineffective for conveying messages or instructions to specific employees.

Emails can be helpful when conveying firm-wide messages. They can also be used if a law firm is trying to document something for legal purposes with a specific employee.

However, email can often be misinterpreted. Frequently, somebody can read an email and take it the wrong way. They may think somebody is upset when they are not, or they might think something is clear when it is vague.

Employees Are Not Reading Your Emails

Another drawback of sending many emails within your law firm is that few employees read them. Law firm managers and owners often send detailed instructions to other employees, which could involve legal or administrative tasks they want completed.

However, with the voluminous number of emails flying on a given day, many employees are not even reading your emails. If they are reading them, they may just be glossing over them quickly. Emails sent after hours are read with even less frequency than emails sent during work hours.

this reason, when a law firm owner or manager wants to convey an essential message to an employee, it is almost always better to speak to that person directly. If that is not possible, calling that employee on the phone or having a virtual meeting with them can be far more effective.

A law firm owner or manager can email to follow up on the conversation and document it. However, if the instructions are emailed, the employee often has not even thoroughly read the email.

They Should Read My Emails

Upon hearing this, many law firm managers and owners insist that employees read their emails. They might think the employee is disrespectful or insubordinate by not reading their emails.

The reality, however, is that if the law firm manager or owner wants a task done, they need to walk down the hall and talk to somebody, call them, or do a virtual meeting with that employee. Talking to somebody directly increases the chances of the task being done correctly.

On the other hand, if the law firm manager is firing off instructions via email, the chances of that task being done correctly infinitely decrease. A law firm manager or owner can insist on sending lots of emails. However, if the emails are not working, the law firm manager or owner needs to change by communicating less by email.