A couple of additional thoughts on office procedure, prompted by Nigel Reid’s excellent article of 2 June, ‘How To: be a better solicitor’:
- Beware the ‘forward’ button as much as ‘reply to all’. On occasion I have found items in a long email train highly revealing;
- Voice recognition dictation can actually be too quick and not allow enough time for second thoughts. The delay in having a secretary type one’s work has its uses. Very often, one achieves a better result by dictating a letter or email, putting it to one side, and coming back to it the following day.
Robert O’Donovan, consultant, Neon Legal, Newcastle upon Tyne
