An article was published in the Tulsa Lawyer by attorney S. Douglas Dodd regarding the compression of time for attorneys created by letters, faxes, phone calls, e-mails, and expedited delivery services. In this article, Mr. Dodd spent some time discussing the now old-fashioned letter. He noted that:
Not that long ago, I guess nearly three decades or so, if I received a letter from opposing counsel about a litigation matter, it was on paper, arrived in a sealed envelope and was delivered by the United States Postal Service. The receipt of even the harshest or angriest communication from another lawyer came with the expectation that a written response, even if written quickly, would not get back to the first lawyer for a couple of days. I can remember feeling that I had time to read the letter carefully, sometimes read it several times, call my client, mail a copy to my client, wait for him, her or it to receive and review it, speak with the client by phone, even discuss the most troubling missives with other lawyers in my firm about how the letter should be reviewed and frame an appropriate response for sharing with and approved by the client. In those days, we didn’t really expect responses to letters before days had passed.
In the article, Mr. Dodd went on to discuss the role that e-mails and text messages now play in the practice of law. He compared attorneys to Pavlov’s dog and observed that:
In addition to other attorneys, many of our clients have come to expect immediate receipt of and response to transmission of written communications. All this additional communication ability is actually a good thing, but we should guard against expecting too much speed from the speedy new methods. I don’t believe that all of this increase in speed of communications has improved the quality of our services as attorneys. Our whole world seems to be on a new time frame, where failure to immediately hit “Reply,” and send an email back enrages some senders…I contend we need to take some time before responding to hot, harsh, or demanding missives from other attorneys…long enough to consider our client’s position, their goals and objectives, the law, ethics, civility and yes, professionalism…If we can do it, I believe we should try to slow down the communications just enough to allow real thought to precede typing (emails) or texting.
The article written by Mr. Dodd is a good reminder about the importance of professionalism and civility in electronic communications.His observations, though, are even more instructive to attorneys representing Oklahoma Cities and Towns.Municipal attorneys are constantly bombarded by electronic communications from elected officials, City or Town Managers, employees, and citizens.Most of the senders expect an immediate response and become frustrated by the attorney’s inability to rapidly answer a question that may require both research and reflection.Mr. Dodd’s wisdom about not rushing an answer should be embraced by those representing Cities and Towns and the necessary time, attention, and research should be conducted prior to responding to a question that may be more complex than it initially seems.