The Email Inbox as a Communications Database

One of the challenges that every lawyer faces when they sit down at their desk in the morning is managing the various software applications running on their computer and the data and communications which run through their systems.  In order to survive the prospect of information overload, attorneys need to try and assemble their most important information, tasks and data in a single place.  While it is not likely possible to get everything under one application, the obvious storage area for everything an attorney needs day in and day out is the email inbox.

There are several challenges to manipulating information in the inbox, not the least of which is the fact that email now gets sent from a variety of different devices from the desktop, laptop, cell phone and iPad.  Whenever you’re away from your main computer, you should consider setting up your email to blindcopy yourself on every communication.  This means that everything that you send ends up in your inbox, even if it’s not in your primary “sent” folder.