Trial Magazine

“I go through my inbox once or twice every day and put emails into three categories: ‘now,’ ‘later,’ and ‘never.’ ‘Now’ emails are dealt with right then or immediately transferred to the people who will handle them. ‘Laters’ are flagged with reminder dates. ‘Nevers’ get deleted. This may sound daunting, but it doesn’t take that long.”

Bettina L. Hollis, The Rizzuto Law Firm, Uniondale, NY
 

“I run rules to sort emails automatically. For example, I created a rule to sort emails from the AAJ Nursing Home Litigation Group list server into a separate folder in my inbox.”

Amber M. Tham, Lanzone Morgan, Long Beach, CA
 

“I create a folder for every case I’m handling, as well as for other categories (administrative, articles, etc.). Every time I read an email and am satisfied it doesn’t require follow-up, I file it in the appropriate folder. I go back through my inbox at least once a day to be sure I haven’t missed anything, and I don’t let emails go unread or unfiled. If I’m traveling or in trial and can’t do this for several days in a row, I set aside time to catch up later.”

Andrew S. Janet, Janet, Janet & Suggs, Baltimore, MD
 

“Responding to email like it is an instant message is the death of productivity. I try to work in uninterrupted blocks and then check email at designated times during the day. Twice a week, I allot 30 minutes for ‘inbox review.’ During that time, I make sure I haven’t missed anything and that any items needing follow up are on my task list.”

Joe Musso, Ashcraft & Gerel, Silver Spring, MD
 

“I turn off email pop-up alerts so I’m not distracted every time a new email arrives. This keeps me on task.”

Patrick T. Murphy, Dworken & Bernstein, Cleveland, OH
 

“I keep only action items in my inbox and evaluate them every day to see whether they can be checked off and moved to a subfolder for storage. If the item will take less than five minutes to complete, I address it before closing my email for the day.”

Jennifer Myers, Miller Weisbrod, Dallas, TX