Prevent the Tell-Tale E-Mail Trail™ How to Keep Your Company E-Mail from Creating a Courtroom Battle
	“An estimated 1.3 trillion e-mail messages are sent by Americans annually, making e-mail one of the most common ways for employees to communicate in the workplace. Because e-mail use has grown so rapidly, the current laws are not adequate to address the situations that arise by its use. Corporate America is learning the hard way that e-mail, despite its perceived cloak of electronic privacy, is a visible and potentially dangerous  communications medium.” Associated Press

Pick up any newspaper, and you're apt to see a reference to miscommunications, confidentiality breaches, business losses, or explosive courtroom evidence stemming from the use and abuse of e-mail.

E-mail use presents practical business issues when the communication doesn't achieve its intended purpose because of ambiguous, ill-considered or imprecise content.  E-mail abuse leads to legal consequences when the communication includes inappropriate, invasive or inflammatory content.  These critical issues impact every business with employee access to internal and external e-mail.

E-mail messages and digital downloads from the Internet can contain offensive, obscene or startlingly candid comments that expose businesses to large lawsuits.  The consequences can range from embarrassment to outright damage to the company's or their own business interests.  Also, the ease of attaching other computer files to an e-mail message, while a valuable business tool, frequently leads to inadvertent and damaging disclosure of confidential or proprietary materials.

Employees often don't use the same level of care with business communica­tions sent via e-mail, resulting in embarrassment, business detriment or discredit to the author's credibility. E-mail is less formal, more conversational, and often sent in haste.  At a minimum, this results in inaccurate, ill-prepared, unprofessional business documents. Loose language, slang and inappropriate jargon compound the communication problems.

According to workplace legal expert, Patricia S. Eyres, “there is no e-mail heaven ... only backup disks.” Ms. Eyres calls herself a “recovering litigator,” who knows first-hand the value of paying attention to prevention. After spending 18 years defending businesses in the courtroom, she resolved to help businesses recognize potential legal landmines before they explode into lawsuits.

In this entertaining and informative presentation, Ms. Eyres covers the critical issues, dispels the legends that lead to lawsuits, and provides specific techniques for avoiding courtroom battles.

This fast-paced session, in keynote or workshop format, can be customized for your organization’s specific policies.