Legal professionals spend an average of 66% of their day on email, according to Dashboard Legal. With the daily flood of emails, saving them to client files often gets overlooked. As a result, emails linger in electronic limbo long after a matter is closed, leading to incomplete files, cluttered inboxes, storage issues, and potential data loss. To prevent these pitfalls, it's crucial to understand your ethical obligations and establish a system for organizing and saving emails efficiently.

Ethical Responsibilities

Despite email’s prevalence, many legal professionals often fail to remember that emails are generally part of the client file. Oregon State Bar Formal Ethics Opinion 2017-192 defines a client file as “the sum total of all documents, records, or information (either in paper or electronic form) that the lawyer maintained in the exercise of professional judgment for use in representing the client.”

Best Practices

Below are best practice tips and popular options for saving emails to your client files:

1. Save emails electronically. Historically, it was commonplace for attorneys or staff to print out emails, either periodically or at the end of the matter. Unsurprisingly, this practice is no longer recommended. Not only is it a waste of time and paper, but printed emails and attachments are often disorganized and easily lost as new messages may be part of a string of prior exchanges. All digital documents pertaining to a matter should be saved electronically (NOT in the email program) in the same location as all other parts of the client file.
2. Sort before saving. Segregate messages in the email program by matter and then save them electronically in the same location where the client’s pleadings, correspondence, research, and so forth are stored. Create subfolders for multiple client matters. Having a complete electronic record for each matter allows you to save messages in bulk rather than individually. This is a more effective method than saving emails individually. You can move them into matter folders manually or through a third-party sorting application. Third-party applications auto-file your emails using algorithms to learn and adapt to your filing habits. Below are some options:
   1. SaneBox (https://www.sanebox.com/)
   2. Email Filing Assistant (https://www.email-filing-assistant.com/)
   3. SimplyFile (https://www.techhit.com/SimplyFile/) (Outlook only)
   4. Quick File for Outlook (https://www.standss.com/quickfile/) (Outlook only)
3. Select your saving strategy. After sorting into folders, how you save your messages outside of the email program depends on a variety of factors. Let’s walk through some popular options to help find what works best for you.
   1. Built-in capabilities of your email program- Consider using the built-in capabilities of your email program. Two main options exist for accessing email: web mail services (i.e., accessed through an internet browser) and desktop email (i.e., accessed through an application on your computer or other device). Common examples of web mail services include Outlook.com, Yahoo!, and Gmail. Common examples of desktop email include Outlook, Apple Mail, and Mozilla Thunderbird. Unfortunately, if you use a web mail service, it can be more challenging for archival purposes because these programs often lack some of the built-in capabilities of desktop email programs. For example, Gmail does not have a built-in option to save messages in bulk. Consider first downloading your email into a desktop-based program like Outlook and save from there. See here for a detailed description of how to transfer Gmail messages into Outlook. Also keep in mind that depending on the program, some of the formatting, attachments, and technical details (e.g., sender, software used, servers) may be lost if using the built-in functionality. For example, to preserve this information when saving Outlook emails, change the message type to Outlook Message Format (.msg).
   2. Third-party add-on - Some software applications can be integrated with your email program to streamline the process. A popular example is Outlook and Adobe Acrobat, whose applications work together to create searchable email portfolios of messages and attachments, automatically indexed and hyperlinked. Emails saved in PDF are more accessible with better preserved original formatting, and thus a good fit for long-term storage. Other PDF programs like Nuance, Nitro, and Foxit may also provide this service. Additional third-party programs like cloud HQ (https://www.save-emails-as-pdf.com/) integrate with Gmail to save emails as PDFs.
   3. Practice management or document management software- Most practice management software programs such as Clio, MyCase, or PracticePanther, among others, include a feature that saves emails and attachments in the appropriate matter when received or sent. The same can be done with many document management software programs like NetDocs or iManage.
4. Create a consistent procedure. Once you have decided how to save the emails, create a consistent procedure to avoid misunderstandings, disorganized files, and procedural bottlenecks. Consider the following when establishing your protocol:
   1. Who will organize and save emails to the client file? If you are a sole practitioner with no staff, it’s you! Otherwise, you’ll need to determine who will be responsible for this task. Some attorneys prefer to organize and save their own emails even if they have staff who may be able to assist. Others prefer to delegate this responsibility.
   2. What is the timeline? Do you want messages saved individually as they come in? Periodically throughout the matter? Or after the matter has closed? If a case becomes lengthy, consider periodically saving emails to avoid risk of loss and inbox overwhelm. Emails in active matters can remain in the program until the case is closed, but they should be extracted for long-term storage elsewhere.
   3. When will you delete original messages? Depending on the timeline, decide whether you plan to delete immediately after storage outside of the email program or save in both places until the end of the matter. Some attorneys prefer to keep messages in both places, especially if they like to use the search option inside the email program. Regardless, you should delete the messages from the email program as soon as the matter closes.

Organizing and saving emails does not have to cause headaches. Putting into place an efficient system will save you significant time and energy and alleviate one of the everyday stresses of practicing law. If you have any questions, please contact a practice management attorney at 503.639.6911. We are here to help!