Effective Calendaring And Email Systems Prevent Claims

Computers and technology have changed every aspect of the modern law practice. Email, for instance, has completely transformed the practice of law. Electronic communication is instantaneous, continuous, and ubiquitous. It is difficult even to compare today's law practice with that of just a few years ago. Correspondingly, the risks associated with the practice of law also have changed. The e-revolution has brought with it new hazards for attorneys.

Despite the many electronic tools available to attorneys, calendaring mistakes and administrative errors continue to dominate the types of problems that generate legal malpractice claims.1 According to some surveys, the second-largest category for such claims involves procedural errors, which include missed deadlines and time management mistakes.2This is true regardless of the area of practice, the size of the law firm, or how long the attorney has been practicing. As the pace of the modern law practice accelerates, the need for effective calendar control and reminder systems increases.

The Reminder System of Yore

Before the emergence of email, one of the most common reminder systems for attorneys was the "pile" system. Generally speaking, this calendaring system involved piles of paper strategically placed around the law office to establish priorities and to remind attorneys what needed to be done and in what order. Although familiar to most seasoned practitioners, it can probably best be described as follows: Files in the pile on the credenza or on the desk needed to be looked at sometime this week. Files in the pile on the desk needed attention today or tomorrow. Files on the attorney's chair (so as to be physically unavoidable) required immediate action. On the other end of the spectrum, if a file was in a file cabinet, it was out of sight and, in many cases, out of mind.

The problem with this system was that it was least efficient when attorneys needed it the most. During the most hectic times—when the attorney would benefit most from a reminder system—the piles were so big and so scattered that they overwhelmed the attorney. Malpractice risks abounded as the number of claims from missed deadlines grew.3

Technology to the Rescue?

One might guess that computers, state-of-the-art software, and email fixed the problem by eliminating the stacks of paper. Unfortunately, this hasn't been the case. Although the new electronic tools showed promise for helping attorneys create an orderly to-do list...