Emailing Professionally

EMAILING PROFESSIONALLY

Much of a lawyer’s correspondence transpires over email. Accordingly, emailing

professionally is vital to a lawyer’s success. In this handout, you will find a set of general

guidelines for emailing professionally—some basics and tips to help you develop your

professional identity through email.

Of course, what follows is general advice and may not apply in your

agency/firm/organization. Nothing can replace your diligent effort to determine office culture and,

specifically, how it relates to emailing. Still, we are confident that practicing the emailing tips

that follow will serve you well in whatever professional setting your find yourself.

The Basics

USE PROFESSIONAL SALUTATIONS & CLOSINGS

A salutation sets the tone for any type of correspondence. A closing is a reader’s last

impression of a writer. Accordingly, a writer’s choice of salutation and closing are essential to

establishing and maintaining a professional tone in a writer’s correspondence. Determining what

qualifies as an appropriate salutation/closing requires a careful mix of common sense, awareness

of organizational culture, and awareness of your audience. And, in your initial correspondence

with an individual, always err on the side of formality. Below are some general guidelines.

Appropriate salutations include:

• Mr./Ms. [Insert Surname],

• Dear Mr./Ms. [Insert Surname],

• Hello Mr./Ms. [Insert Surname],

• Hi Mr./Ms. [Insert Surname],

• Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening,

Appropriate closings include:

• Sincerely,

• Best,

• Best regards,

• Regards,

• Thank you,

Composed by Luci Hague & Alex Winkelman. Revised by Charlotte Kelley & Charlie Thau in

2020.

CREATE A PROFESSIONAL SIGNATURE BLOCK

It is common practice for a professional to include a signature block after the body of her

email. Typically, a signature block includes the professional’s name, title, phone number, email

address, agency/firm/organization name, agency/firm/organization address, and a confidentiality

disclaimer. See below for an example of a professional signature block. As always, however, the

example below is but one of many styles in which a professional can format a successful signature

block.

Jim Harbaugh [Name]

Head Football Coach, General Counsel [Title]

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor [Organization Name]

5555 State Street [Address, Line #1]

Ann Arbor, Michigan 55555 [Address, Line #2] P

Phone: (555) 555-5555 [Phone Number]

Fax: (666) 666-6666 [Fax Number]

Email: Lharbaugh@umich.edu [Email Address]

This e-mail is confidential and may be privileged. Use or disclosure of it by anyone other than a designated

addressee is unauthorized. If you are not an intended recipient, please delete this e-mail from the computer on

which you received it immediately.

Style: Email as a Part of Professional Identity

EMAIL STYLE: BASIC POINTERS

If you have previously received an email from the person with whom you’ve been in

contact, it’s usually safe to mirror the sender’s choices in salutation, closing, and sentence

length. For example, if the person to whom you’re sending an email has previously signed

off with his or her first name, unless you have a reason to address the person by his or her

title and last name, you can begin your next email with a salutation and the person’s first

name. When in doubt, however, it’s generally better to err on the side of formality—

especially if the email is your first communication with someone.

If you expect to send emails to multiple recipients, know your supervisor’s preference

about when to send emails with the CC function and when to use the BCC function.

Be judicious with use of the “Reply All” function, even if you’re one of many recipients

of an email. Unless there is a clear reason for every recipient to receive the text of your

email, consider whether it may be appropriate to reply to the sender individually.

In order to avoid sending emails too early, leave the recipient email address blank until

you’re satisfied with the substance and style of the email. Then, insert the recipient’s email

when you’re ready to send the email out.

EMAIL FORMATTING

Subject Lines

Effective subject lines are useful in previewing the substance of an email and may be

especially helpful if your email addresses two or more distinct subjects. When in doubt, keep

subject lines as concise as possible so that they can be read quickly and so that the recipient’s

screen can display the entire line. Consider asking whether your supervisor has a preference for

what to include or leave out in email subject lines. Additionally, if this is your first time emailing

with someone and you know they are receiving tons of emails, consider putting your name in the

subject line to immediately remind the recipient who you are.

Examples of potentially effective subject lines:

• Today’s schedule

• 2/10 discussion: following up

• Assignment for Monday and class next week

• M. Johnson – Question from today’s class

Font Choices

Keep your font choice simple. It’s usually safest to opt for the default font in your email

application. Remember that special fonts and characters may be distorted in the sending process.

Even if you find an uncommon font more visually appealing, it may detract from the substance of

your message and may be distracting to the recipient. Use of colorful text is likewise inadvisable

because it may make the email more challenging for the recipient to read.

Examples of likely effective font choices:

• Calibri

• Arial

• Times New Roman

• Garamond

EMAIL SUBSTANCE

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Breaking up longer text lists into bulleted or numbered lists may be an effective

choice if you want the recipient to focus on each item individually.

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Headings may be useful organizational tools if your email addresses several different

topics.

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Punctuation matters. An exclamation point at the end of a sentence may be useful to

convey enthusiasm in a less formal context, but it may be inappropriate in an office setting.

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Use your judgment depending on the relative level of enthusiasm in your office culture

and the frequency with which your colleagues and supervisors use (or don’t use)

exclamation points.

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Be sure to spell-check emails just as you would spell-check a document. If you’re

sending a particularly important email, consider drafting the text in a word processing

application and printing it to proofread separately.

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Consider breaking up long sentences. If your supervisor is reading your email on a

phone or other handheld device with a small screen, long sentences and sentences with

semicolons may be more challenging to follow.

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Word choice is especially important because it’s impossible to hear inflections and

tone in an email as would happen in an ordinary conversation. Select your words

carefully and make sure they’re tailored to the message you want to convey.

To Email or to Call?

Despite its usefulness, email is not always the most effective method of communication

with a supervisor or colleagues. The choice may reflect an organization’s particular culture. If

you’re just starting a new position, try to get a sense of when your colleagues use email and when

they prefer to pick up the phone or stop by another’s office. If you have a particularly simple

question, it may be easier to stop by your colleague’s desk instead of taking the time to type and

send your email.

Email may be useful if you want to establish a record of asking a certain question, or if the

response will likely contain information that you need to reference in the future. If the information

is especially important, consider saving the email to its own file folder or printing a hard copy for

your records.

Email Memos

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EMAIL MEMOS AND TRADITIONAL MEMOS

Legal professionals are transitioning away from traditional, formal memo documents to

email memos. Although email memos are similar to traditional memos, there are some important

differences:

1) Scope: An email memo is typically shorter than a traditional memo. Email memos are

usually meant to provide a comprehensive understanding of a legal issue while omitting

the formalities of the classic 1L memo. For instance, lawyers might omit a formal brief

answer, statement of facts, and conclusion in an email memo.

2) Audience: You may be asked to send an email memo to your supervisor or the client.

Because email memos typically lack the formality of a traditional memo, you should

ask your supervisor to clarify his or her expectations. For example, a supervisor might

want to see formal citations and sophisticated legal analysis, whereas a client might just

prefer the practical answer to his or her question.

3) Formatting: Keep readability in mind when writing an email memo and be cognizant

of formatting differences between email platforms and Microsoft Word. If you feel

more comfortable writing your email memo in Word and then transferring the text to

email, make sure that this hasn’t made your work product look unprofessional.

WRITING AN EMAIL MEMO

1) Recite the research question: This ensures that you and your supervisor or client are

on the same page about your assignment and refreshes the supervisor or client’s

recollection of your assignment’s exact parameters. The language you use can be

simple: “Dear Jill, you asked me to look into: ___.”

2) Give an abbreviated “brief answer”: Answer the question succinctly in as few

sentences as possible before diving into more detailed analysis. Most supervisors or

clients will want their answer up front. This does not mean, however, that you have to

comply with the formalities of a traditional brief answer. Usually, one, two, or three

sentences will suffice.

3) Follow a similar, but abbreviated, memo format: Employ the tools of legal

organization and analysis that you would use in a traditional memo but keep it brief. If

an email memo starts to become too lengthy, reconsider the medium.

4) Offer more help at the end of your email: Supervisors and clients may have follow-

up questions, and you want to show eagerness to help them. Ending an email memo

with something to the effect of: “Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any

questions” can send a positive message about your work ethic.

Tips for Common Emails

NETWORKING EMAILS

Reaching out to legal professionals whose careers you admire can be an important first step

in finding employment. Attending networking events or doing online research are useful ways of

initially connecting with legal professionals. The next step is often reaching out over email to

arrange to meet up for coffee and discuss their career. See below for tips for drafting networking

emails:

1) Remind them where they met you. Often legal professionals will have met a lot of

prospective employees at networking events and it’s helpful to remind them who you

are. A good start to a networking email is: “Dear Jill, It was so nice to meet you at

[event] on [day].” It is also helpful to highlight any memorable topics you two discussed

to further jog their memory: “I really enjoyed discussing [topic] with you.”

2) Ask to connect over the phone or over coffee. Asking to get together is a great way to

show your interest in their career. Be sure to give them options (i.e. connecting over the

phone, in person or sticking to email). If they agree to meet with you it is best to prepare

in advance a short list of questions that you want to ask them.

3) Give them times that work for you. To avoid a long back-and-forth about when you

both are free, it is helpful to provide the times you are available in the initial email. Be

sure to give them at least three days or time slots during which you are available so they

can choose the time that is most convenient for them.

ASKING FOR ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE ON A RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT

Your supervisor has assigned you a research project. You have checked all the relevant legal

databases and have asked others for help, but you’re still not sure you’re on the right track. Instead

of spending more time spinning your wheels it is often best to reach out to the assigning supervisor

for more guidance. See below for tips on how to effectively ask for help:

1) Remind them of the assignment. Your supervisor might not remember the exact

assignment he or she gave you so consider starting your email by reminding them of the

research question: “Dear Jill, on [day] we met in your office and you asked me to look

into [research question]. Restating the research question will also give the supervisor a

chance to assess whether you have understood the assignment correctly.

2) Show your work. List the steps you have taken so far on the assignment (i.e. used

certain search terms in Westlaw, asked a librarian, etc.). You want your supervisor to

know that you put effort into the assignment before asking for more guidance. Listing

what you have already done will also avoid a situation where the supervisor suggests

searching places you have already exhausted.

3) Offer to discuss in person or over the phone. Some supervisors prefer to discuss more

complicated research questions in person, so it is always helpful to provide them with

this option, instead of clogging their inbox with many back-and-forth emails.

ASKING FOR AN EXTENSION

Life happens. Unexpected events sometimes come up that prevent you from meeting a deadline.

Below are some tips for drafting emails asking a supervisor for an extension on a project:

1) Remind them of the assignment. Again, it is always best to assume your supervisor

does not know the exact contours of what you are working on (unless you have very

recently discussed the assignment).

2) Describe the circumstances, but don’t overwhelm them with detail. Your supervisor

needs to know a brief description of the circumstances that prevent you from

completing the project, but they don’t need to know your whole life story. Keep it

simple.

3) Offer alternatives. It is best to avoid simply saying you can no longer complete the

assignment and therefore it is the supervisor’s problem to replace you. If you have the

time, describe some of the steps you have taken to find someone else to take over the

project or offer an alternative deadline that works better for you.

4) If no one gets back to you, pick up the phone. If the project is especially important

and time-sensitive, consider calling the assigning supervisor if you haven’t heard back

from them. This will avoid a situation in which your supervisor misses your email,

assumes you are still working on the assignment and is surprised later on when the

assignment is unfinished.

Other Resources

There are many useful resources available regarding the professional use of email and

methods of using email to enhance your professional success. As with any document, use

judgment and discretion about which guidance may be most helpful for your professional context.

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Joe Regalia, A Young Attorney’s Most Important Writing: Emails, ABA FOR LAW

STUDENTS (September 17, 2017), https://abaforlawstudents.com/2017/09/14/young-

attorneys-important-writing-e-mails/.

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How to Write Networking Emails as a Law Student or Graduate, NEW ENGLAND LAW,

(2017), https://www.nesl.edu/news/detail/how-to-write-networking-emails-as-a-law-

student-or-graduate.

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Wayne Schiess, E-Mail Like a Lawyer, MICH. BAR. J. (Sept. 2010),

https://www.michbar.org/journal/pdf/pdf4article1741.pdf.