|
Navigation |
Vol. 72, No. 11, November
1999 |
Technology
Using Electronic Mailing Lists
to Discuss Legal Technology
There's more to the Internet than Web sites and email -
like subscribing to and participating in lists that discuss a
multitude of topics. This article focuses on legal technology
discussions conducted via electronic mailing lists, but the general
tips can be applied to any discussion topic.
By Ross L. Kodner
If your personal quest is tracking down the hottest new laptop
information or searching for the latest information on case management
systems, you're reading the right article. Need to know
how other law firms are addressing the laptop versus desktop
personal computer issue for their lawyers? Wondering if the latest
crop of voice recognition systems actually works? Anxious to
enter the fray on the hottest legal technology wars? Then you
need to subscribe to one (or more) of the legal technology Internet
email lists, or listserves. (The spelling as "Listserv"
without the final "e" is the trademark of L-Soft, a
company that makes Listserv software.)
Email lists oriented to legal technology topics are some of
the most heavily trafficked, and most useful. Thousands of lawyers,
legal technologists, law firm administrators, information system
staff, and legal librarians populate these lists. From the perspective
of a heavy and regular participant, the net effect is that the
"conversation" taking place on legal technology lists
comes from a realistic cross-section of every kind of lawyer,
practicing in every kind of setting imaginable.
A listserve is the ultimate in online information, delivered
to your virtual mailbox. Postings to a list are sent just like
email, except they go to every subscriber of the mail list instead
of just one recipient, all of whom are put right in the middle
of the ongoing discussion. Subscribe to a mailing list on legal
technology, for example, and you'll find the latest discussions
of email privacy, what's new with Windows NT, which laptops
not to buy, and more.
Important Points About Mail Lists
Finding and Signing on to Mail Lists. The best place
to find the listserve you are interested in is Lyonette Louis-Jacques'
"Law
Lists." (I offer some of my other favorites later in
this article.) The compendium includes hundreds of law-related
mail lists, with full subscription instructions for each list.
For example, for a description of the ABA's "Solosez"
listserve, on the Louis-Jacques list you'll find: SOLOSEZ@abanet.org
(open forum for lawyers practicing alone or in a small law firm
setting, particularly firms with five or fewer lawyers; sponsored
by the American Bar Association).
Full subscription information is included. When you subscribe,
most lists will send you a return email confirming your subscription.
I strongly recommend that you print and save the confirmation
because it may contain important information about the list,
such as how to post messages, contact the list administrator,
unsubscribe to the list, and so on.
Mail List Addresses. Mail lists typically have two
addresses: one for posting messages and one for subscribing,
unsubscribing, and other housekeeping tasks. Don't confuse
the two, or your subscription request will be posted for all
to see. Messages sent to the subscribing address go either to
the person managing the list or to an automated computer program
that responds to commands it receives via email. (This is always
made clear in the subscription information.)
How to Post and Reply to a Message. Just address your
email message to the posting address provided for your group
in the instructions (you did save your subscription confirmation,
didn't you?) and send it. Some lists let you reply to messages
posted in the list just by hitting your email "return"
or "reply" button - your email will be posted
to the list itself, not the individual. Check the instructions
you received when you subscribed to your list for information
specific to it.
Learn the Tone of the Group Before Posting Messages.
If you're new to a mailing list, "lurk" (read
without responding or initiating a post) for a while before posting
to pick up its tenor. Try and learn something before commenting.
Similarly, don't clutter up everyone's mailbox with
lots of comments such as "thanks" or "I totally
agree," which can be sent to specific individuals by private
email. This is a sure way to irritate other participants.
Also, conversational threads between you and one other person
are better taken to private email. It's the same with situations
where you end up involved in a heated argument. And try to remember
the list's charter before you post - no one appreciates
a participant who tries to hijack an established list to meet
his or her own needs.
Mail Volume Can Be Overwhelming. Some lists generate
so many messages daily that you hardly can sort out your personal
email from the pack. Consider subscribing to only one list until
you feel comfortable with the procedure, content, and volume
of messages.
Be careful what you subscribe to; you may get far more than
you want. Rather than receiving scads of separate messages each
day from your mailing list, you can ask to receive them in digest
form - a single email containing all that day's or
week's messages. Only automated lists can create a digest
for you. It's usually as simple as typing "digest"
or a similar command into an email and sending it to the list
administrator. Check your list's instructions to see exactly
how.
Sorting Your Email. Having all your email from individuals
and mail lists jumbled together in one "in box" can
be confusing. Sophisticated email programs can sort incoming
email into topic-specific or source-specific mailboxes. Using
a process called "filtering" you can create a mailbox
for each mail list. The filter knows to route mail from that
particular mail list into the specific mailbox set up to receive
those messages. You can retrieve messages when it's convenient
for you.
Unsubscribing From a Mail List. Signing off a list
is accomplished by sending an email message to the same address
you used to subscribe to the list (not the list's posting
address). If it's an automated list, follow the instructions
you were originally sent, which will likely ask you to type in
"signoff" or "unsubscribe," followed by the
name of the group and your name, in the body of an email message
sent to the list administrator. If a human moderator runs the
list, send the same request in a brief note to his or her attention.
Consider stopping your email subscriptions for any period when
you will not be checking your email, and then resubscribing upon
your return. Otherwise you might find several hundred new mail
messages waiting for you.
Tips on Netiquette. Get advice from someone who has
become known as the "Emily Post" of the Internet, Arlene
Rinaldi. Point your Web browser to: http://www.fau.edu/netiquette.
For more on netiquette, see the article written by Corel Legal
Web Page columnists Courtney Kennaday, Ross Kodner, and Susan
Ross, entitled "A
Lesson In Netiquette: Mom Was Right - Manners Are Important
- Even for Lawyers!" Here's an example of
email list netiquette mentioned in the article:
Case No. 1: Terrorism by Autoresponse. Attorney Simon
goes on a three-week vacation. An avid email user, Simon wants
to be courteous and let his friends and clients know that he
is unavailable and won't respond to his email until he returns.
Using his email software, he sets up an automatic response function
(autoresponder). With the autoresponder, whenever someone emails
him, they get a response that says: "Hi. I'm in Europe
for three weeks, but when I get back, I'll respond to all
my email in the order it was received."
Next Page
|