THERE'S MORE TO E-MAIL THAN HITTING A "SEND" BUTTON

For anyone who's ever felt overwhelmed by a sea of unending and disorganized e-mail, along comes Kenneth E. Johnson's new book, "The Lawyer's Quick Guide to E-Mail," (published by the American Bar Association's Law Practice Management Section) to save your sanity. The last thing any lawyer needs is to spend precious, potentially billable time figuring out how to send attachments, filter out spam, or access e-mail from another person's computer. With this book, all the tips and tricks are there to get you running smoothly in no time at all. You'll learn things you never knew your e-mail program could do.

Ken Johnson, Information Services Project Leader at the law form of Mayer, Brown & Platt in Chicago and author of "The Lawyer's Guide to Creating Web Pages," takes three of the most popular and commonly available e-mail programs -- Eudora Pro, Netscape Messenger, and Microsoft Outlook Express -- and offers a wealth of information on configuring and using them. Those who use other programs can also benefit from the examples discussed in this handy book.

For those who are completely stymied by some facet of an e-mail program's configuration, pictures can be worth a thousand explanations. E-mail novices and the technologically challenged will therefore appreciate this book's many illustrations. Johnson assists the reader in understanding how to do something by reproducing illustrations of what the computer screen will look like in all three e-mail programs. For example, in his discussion of e-mail address books, representative screen shots from Eudora Pro, Outlook Express and Netscape Messenger show you what you will see upon opening that program's address book function. Differences among the programs and their capabilities are noted in the caption beneath each illustration.

"The Lawyer's Guide Quick Guide to E-Mail" ably demonstrates that your e-mail program is probably much more versatile that you realize. For example, did you know your e-mail program probably can:

Johnson tells you how to do all this and much more. In addition to his advice on maximizing your e-mail program's capabilities, Johnson also provides excellent advice on a host of e-mail-related topics. A sampling of the areas he covers includes:

Mailing Lists

As Johnson notes, e-mail can be much more than a way to send a speedy message. Many attorneys, for example, are now seeing the value of participating in mailing lists, which are e-mail discussion groups. Such discussion groups can keep you up to date on current developments in almost any area you can think of. They also offer a place to converse with colleagues and ask questions. For those new to mailing lists, Johnson's book describes how to find lists, how to subscribe and unsubscribe, and how to avoid looking foolish by posting the wrong thing in the wrong place. Of particular use to those unfamiliar with mailing lists is Johnson's rules for observing "list netiquette" -- those specialized rules for participating in lists that most people learn by embarassing trial and error. Follow Johnson's netiquette list faithfully and you'll look like a mailing list pro.

Spam

Spam. Junk e-mail. You hate it, don't you? It clogs up your inbox, offering you everything you don't want, from diet pills to phone sex opportunities. Sometimes you're tempted to just fire back a nasty response, especially to the messages that tell you they'll unsubscribe you from their list if you ask them to. Don't bother, says Johnson. In a handy section on spam, he reveals that sending a message back to a spammer to unsubscribe merely demonstrates for them that you have a working e-mail address. Your address will then likely be sold to still more spammers. Instead, learn from this book how to filter out most of this nasty stuff so you never have to read it.

Virus Hoaxes

If you've had e-mail for any length of time, you probably remember receiving chain-letter-type warnings telling you to watch out for messages with subject lines like "AOL4Free," "Good Times," or "Join the Crew." These messages are usually accompanied by dire warnings that if you open such e-mail, your hard drive will crash and the universe as you know it will end. If you're not a computer whiz, you may not know if this could really happen or not. As a result, you tremble every time you open an unfamiliar e-mail. Rest easy, says Johnson. You can't get a virus from simply reading an e-mail message -- though you can if you open an attachment containing a virus. Johnson's book offers useful insight into viruses, how they travel, and where the reader can find more information on the Internet about which viruses are hoaxes and which are real.

Security and Encryption

Attorneys need to worry about security, especially when conversing with clients over the Internet. Regular e-mail can be read by nosy system administrators at any time, so when privacy becomes critical, e-mail security is a must. For those who may have heard a little about e-mail security but are confused about what can be done, Johnson describes options such as PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) encryption, digital signatures, and digital certificates. He also offers some common sense suggestions to help attorneys maintain the security of e-mail communications.

Ethical Concerns

"The Lawyer's Quick Guide to E-Mail" offers several savvy pointers to keep attorneys out of trouble as they expand their use of e-mail. E-mail creates some new and unique ethical concerns that attorneys need to keep in mind as they provide e-mail access within their firms. This book offers some helpful suggestions on law firm e-mail use policies, as well as e-mail retention. For lawyers who want to make the most of e-mail, "The Lawyer's Quick Guide to E-Mail" is a true find - that rare combination of factual depth and easy to understand guidance.

Susan Fall is a practicing attorney in Virginia Beach, Virginia.