Balancing Legal Work and Email Load

Junior lawyers of all sorts, you probably have a supervising attorney and there is a good chance he or she is BUSY. Here is something I learned as a young associate to manage this and stay sane. When I was a junior associate, I had lots of cases with one of the busiest partners in my office. I had questions and needed his approval on strategy and work product. He was happy to give me that guidance, but it was hard to nail him down because he was so busy. So I started sending him a brief weekly update. I listed all our cases with a one-sentence description. I listed the upcoming deadlines in bold. I added one or two sentences providing a status update. Then I highlighted it. Green meant everything was on track, my update is just FYI. Yellow meant, “I need your input or approval on this”—it is how I noted a question* or a suggested a next step if I wasn’t sure. Red meant “I need your specific attention on this now!” It was for things like the draft I sent last week that needs his sign off so it can go for client approval. And I re-attached to that email any document that I had sent him for review. It worked like a charm. His confidence in my ability to manage cases grew because he saw all the things I was handling well. I wasn’t sending 25 urgent emails that cluttered his inbox and added to his workload. He had all the information he needed at his fingertips and didn’t need to hunt. And I would get a prompt response with his answers to my questions. He was happier because I made it easier to do his job. I was happier because I wasn’t stressing that a partner wasn’t responding to me or I had urgent matters that needed attention that felt out of my control. Being a rockstar associate usually comes down to making a partner’s life easier. I don’t know if there is a supervising attorney on earth who wouldn’t appreciate an associate proactively checking in, providing succinct status updates, and making it simple to give approval, assignments, and guidance. *Bonus tip: when you have a question or problem, propose a solution! You may have thought about this in a different or better way than the partner. And learning to start predicting the correct next step is how you grow!

Want to stand out as a law firm associate? Have a dialed-in client email strategy. Ease the burden of your in-house contact's email inbox. As with any strategy, understanding the reality of your in-house clients' world is key: they're juggling multiple legal matters. They're serving dozens or even hundreds of internal "clients" across their organization. Each business unit, manager, and project team needs their attention. Their inbox is a constant stream of urgent requests, necessary approvals, and internal discussions. Every email you send either adds to or eases this cognitive burden. How you email can make a real difference in how clients view both you and your firm. Your email habits show you understand their world and are actively working to make their job easier (bad habits will have the opposite effect). In addition to understanding their world, it's important to understand their communication preferences. In other words, there's no one-size-fits-all-approach here. But...there are some solid go-to techniques that, at least in my experience, most in-house counsel appreciate. Here are a few ideas: 1. Lead with clear "next steps" at the top of a substantive email—don't bury action items in lengthy prose. 2. Write in a way that makes it easy for your in-house contact to forward to business colleagues: use plain English summaries, clear headers, and explicitly call out what's needed from each stakeholder. 3. Remember that your email might be forwarded multiple times as part of internal discussions, so make it scannable and self-contained—a business executive should be able to understand the key points without needing the full email chain for context. 4. Make your subject lines work harder—label them clearly as [ACTION NEEDED] or [UPDATE ONLY] and include a few key details for context. 5. Keep separate matters in separate emails—this makes it easier for your in-house contact to forward only relevant pieces to different business teams. 6. When sending documents for review, highlight the 2-3 key areas needing attention rather than leaving them to hunt through the full document. 7. Instead of sending multiple updates, consolidate them into regular digestible summaries. Create a predictable rhythm your clients can rely on—they'll appreciate knowing when to expect updates and can plan their workflow accordingly. 8. For complex matters with multiple workstreams, maintain a simple status report that can be quickly skimmed or forwarded to show progress at a glance. These things might seem small, but they demonstrate real professionalism and understanding of your clients' needs. You're not just handling legal work—you're actively making your clients' jobs easier. And that goes a long way toward helping you stand out as an associate for the right reasons.

(E)mail Order Catalogue: Rethinking Productivity in Legal Practice Almost two years ago, I reviewed my Microsoft MyAnalytics dashboard, and the numbers were eye-watering! Over just 4 weeks: ✉️ 786 emails sent 📥 4,149 emails read 📞 108 chats and calls And I was working, some days, almost 8am to midnight! This was during an intense phase at Collyer Law—a few high-pressure deals, a lean team, and the final stretch of remote work where boundaries had blurred. The result? A communication overload that felt relentless—and frankly, unsustainable. But I’ve since made changes. And for lawyers, consultants, or anyone in high-performance client service roles, here’s what I’ve learned: 📉1. Stop glorifying inbox activity A 5:1 ratio of emails read to sent isn't productive—it’s reactive. Prioritise critical matters. Silence the noise. 📉 2. Protect deep work at all costs Legal thinking requires focus. Without protected hours for strategy, drafting, or negotiation, we dilute our value. 📉 3. Use asynchronous tools intentionally Long internal email chains? Replace them with structured daily updates via Slack/Teams. Faster. Cleaner. Smarter. 📉4. Review how you work—not just what you do If you bill your time, why not audit it too? A 30-minute review of your work habits monthly can be transformative. 📉5. Model boundaries Being “always on” isn’t leadership—it’s burnout in disguise. Use delayed send. Be clear about your availability. Set the tone. At Collyer Law LLC, we’re still refining how we work—but we’re doing it with intentionality. Because sustainable performance isn't about doing more—it's about doing what matters, better. Would love to hear how others in professional services or client-first roles are navigating this balance. #Productivity #Leadership #ClientService #LegalTech #WorkSmart #professionalservices #callyourlawyer