Are Email Problems Damaging Your Marketing Effort?

Do you know how many potential clients you are losing because their e-mails are returned undelivered? I believe lawyers don’t really need new clients because eliminating spam e-mail seems to be more important.

I do TV advertising for personal injury lawyers and marketing for criminal lawyers. I often send e-mails to lawyers who request information or with attached files, such as an agreement. My e-mails are frequently returned as suspected spam or virus content.

Although I advise lawyers that their spam filters are creating a problem, none of the lawyers have ever turned off their spam filter. Maybe they don’t know how. Apparently, they do not even know how to accept my e-mail address as an accepted address. They usually just give me an alternate e-mail address.

If you feel it is more important to filter spam, even though you may be losing potential clients, here is a new reason to consider getting rid of that spam filter. Do you really know if you are receiving all of the e-mails sent to you by a judge or the court?

In Pace v. United States Automobile Ass’n, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49425, *9-10 (D. Colo. 2007), a settlement conference notice was e-mailed to all attorneys. One of the attorneys did not appear at the conference because the e-mail was blocked by a spam filter and was not received! That sounds very familiar.

The court recognized that the mistake was inadvertent but stated “It is incumbent upon attorneys to adopt internal office procedures that ensure the court’s notices and orders are brought to their attention once they have been received. This is just as true in these days of electronic noticing as it was when documents were sent by first class mail. To rely on procedures that treat the court’s electronic notices as the functional equivalent of junk mail is not acceptable.”

Because of the mistake, the firm had to pay the opposing law firm’s costs for showing up at the settlement conference and subsequent hearings related to it.

Spam filters may save you time, but they will cost you lost business and may even get you into trouble. Turn off your spam filter today.