Question of the Week
What’s Your Most Memorable Misdirected E-mail, Received or Sent?
Posted Feb 14, 2008, 12:13 pm CDT
By Molly McDonough
Recent news that a misdirected e-mail from Pepper Hamilton may have helped confirm a page one New York Times story on a billion-dollar settlement created quite a buzz in journalism and legal ethics communities.
Several commentors at ABAJournal.com debated the decision by the Times to use the information. While others, such as Douglas Laird, recognized the blunder as a cautionary tale, [there] “but for the grace of God go I," he noted.
This made us wonder...
What's your most memorable misdirected e-mail, received or sent?
Answer in the comments section below.
Read last week's question and answers about declaring a moratorium on a work/life balance hog.
Our Favorite Answer From Last Week:
Posted by "R": "Email. Simply shut down the firm server from 5 pm until 8 am. No one is allowed to send or receive email during that time. No exceptions."
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Comments
Posted by Brandi - 7 months, 3 weeks, 1 day, 1 hour, 54 minutes ago
One time my mom accidentally sent an e-mail to her boss complaining about a project he had just given her. She was trying to send it to me, but his name was the first word in the text, and somehow it went to him instead. Probably something in the e-mail program that automatically fills in the e-mail address if you just type in the name. He wrote her back something along the lines of “funny you sent this to me.” It was a scary moment.
Posted by RJ - 7 months, 3 weeks, 21 hours, 33 minutes ago
At my prior firm, a secretary once sent an e-mail to her friend stating that she was tired and did not feel like working. Unfortunately for her, she accidentally sent it to “all personnel” in addition to her friend.
Posted by AARON MARTIN - 7 months, 3 weeks, 19 hours, 18 minutes ago
In handling a divorce case several years ago, the husband, my client, claimed that his wife was having an adulterous affair. The wife denied this, even in court pleadings.
Opposing counsel was to send me discovery via email. Apparently he sent everything, because I received his handwritten office notes of a meeting with his client in which the client admitted to the affair and stated the name of the paramour.
Although we didn’t disclose our knowledge (we did not have to under the ethics rules in place at the time), we knew throughout the case that we had an ace up our sleeve if she would push too hard for alimony.
Posted by K.M - 7 months, 3 weeks, 19 hours, 3 minutes ago
A friend of mine sent me an e-mail complaining about a mutual friend who was abusing the “I’ll help with your kids if you need it” policy. Unfortunatly she put my name and my kids name in the e-mail instead of the other friend. The funniest part is that the whole thing was a joke anyway. GOOD thing.
Posted by Scott - 7 months, 1 week, 5 days, 4 hours, 8 minutes ago
How remarkable that “Aaron Martin” would admit to keeping, reading and being prepared to use opposing counsel’s, unwittingly disclosed, work product!!!
Unbelievable. Since when do the bare minimum requirements of the “ethics rules in place at the time” carry the day. What obeying the “ethics rules” does is keep you out of jail, possibly, from being disbarred. But, USING the mistakenly transmitted information is what gives lawyers a bad name for being sneaky, underhanded, unprincipled and untrustworthy.
Shocking.